Homeless encampment cleanup underway in a South LA neighborhood

Homeless encampments and RVs have become a problem for many neighborhoods across the county. 

In South LA, some businesses are doing what they can to combat the problem.

Cleanup was underway in a neighborhood in Chesterfield Square as the city was clearing out waste left behind.

Some employees who work there say more needs to be done, but they have almost succumbed to the fact that the mess left behind is the way it is going to stay. 

One RV was getting hauled away after an LAPD officer on scene said that the owner had several weeks to fix their violation but failed to do so.

NBC4 has reached out to the city and are waiting for a reply. But for some employees who work nearby, they say  one less RV isn’t exactly going to make a difference. 

“One leaves, you have four more coming in. It’s not going to stop,” said Marcelino Cervantes, who works nearby.

Cervantes is a supervisor at Advanced Paper Products. The owners  of his business 

have set up barricades to stop the RV’s from parking in front of their doors. He says it hurts their business.

Other businesses nearby have done the same because they are fed up with the constant trash pile ups, human feces on the sidewalks and other sights.

“They don’t bother anybody they are just trying to live life too just like us,” Doug Garcia, a neighbor, said.

But some neighbors say the RV’s and the people who live inside them aren’t a problem. Walter Villafranka is someone who calls an RV his home. He has been living in this spot for six months.

After today’s cleanup he lives in fear that he may have to leave because others aren’t following the rules and he would have nowhere else to go. 

NBC4 reached out to the city to learn more about this cleanup today and what is being done to assist the business owners here, but we have not heard back.