Muscle Beach Trashed by a Homeless Encampment

An unhoused man built a homeless encampment from three public benches at the Santa Monica Muscle Beach on Saturday, December 3, 2022. A sanitation worker from Crysalys tried to clean-up the area. Santa Monica Police officers arrived and tried to get the unhoused man to clean-up the area. No arrests were made and no citations were issued. This man has been camping in this same spot for more than a week.

Santa Monica Municipal Code 4.08.095 prohibits camping in public spaces.

4.08.095 : Prohibition against camping in public places.
(a) No person shall camp in a prohibited public place.
(b) For the purpose of this Section:
(1) “Camp” means to erect, maintain or occupy a camp facility for the purpose of living accommodations.
(2) “Camp facility” means one or more of the following: tents, huts, other temporary physical shelters, cots, beds, sleeping bags, hammocks, or bedrolls.
(3) “Prohibited public place” means any of the following: the public parks listed in Section 4.08.091, public beaches, the Santa Monica Municipal Pier, public streets, public alleyways, public parking lots, public passageways, public rights-of-way, publicly-owned landscaped areas or greenbelts, public educational institutions including properties owned by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District or Santa Monica College, or other government-owned properties located within the City of Santa Monica.
(c) The City Council may, by majority vote, establish one or more specified camping areas. Such camping areas, if any, may be located in prohibited public places, except that such camping areas shall not be located within public parks.
(d) This Section shall not take effect until March 1, 1995. (Added by Ord. No. 1768CCS § 4, adopted 9/13/94)

Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Fabian's photographs have been displayed in museums, art galleries, hospitals, department stores, banks, fire stations, police stations, commercial buildings, amusement parks, offices and homes.

Support Santa Monica Closeup by making a One Time Donation via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabia...

Make a One Time Donation via Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

Follow us on Instagram:   / santamonicacloseup