(Photo illustration: The LA Globe)

Twelve anti-camping zones in Echo Park and Silver Lake were rescinded by the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. The motion came from Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez of the 13th District, LA Public Press reported from the meeting. The outlet's account does not give a roll-call tally. It does not list the street locations of the 12 zones.

The practical effect is narrow and local. Enforcement discretion in one council district changes. The law behind it does not.

What the vote removes, and what it leaves

Section 41.18 was passed by the council in 2021. It bans sleeping, sitting and lying in many public spaces. Individual councilmembers designate specific zones by resolution, the outlet reported. The 12 zones rescinded Tuesday were established in 2021. They were created by Soto-Martínez's predecessor, Mitch O'Farrell.

Two pieces of authority survive the vote. In 2022 the council amended 41.18 to ban camping citywide within 500 feet of schools and daycare centers. That ban applies in Council District 13 regardless of Tuesday's motion. And because zones are created by resolution, councilmembers in other districts keep theirs.

Soto-Martínez was reelected in June. He said the zones made it harder for his office to connect people to services.

“Displacing our neighbors from block to block, or in many cases from district to district, doesn't help them find housing.”

Eighteen months of pressure, then 2,500 doors

Organizers and unhoused residents campaigned for more than a year to remove the district's zones, the outlet reported. On February 21, 2026, organizers delivered a letter signed by more than 50 groups. They handed it over at Soto-Martínez's reelection canvassing kickoff at Bellevue Park in Silver Lake.

A written response on February 25 promised a comprehensive analysis of the zones and enforcement data. It set no timeline. The coalition then called for a boycott of his campaign fundraiser on March 4. In late May, a week before the June primary, organizers staged a mock sanitation sweep outside his apartment building.

Before the motion, council staff and volunteers knocked on more than 2,500 doors. They also sent 10,000 mailers, according to Soto-Martínez spokesperson Andoni Elias Nava. Nava told LA Public Press that the large majority of respondents supported or did not oppose removing the zones.

The opposition, and the districts next

Councilmember Traci Park represents parts of the Westside. She said 41.18 has kept public areas safe, clean and accessible.

“I can't support the removal of common sense measures to keep kids and families safe.”

Councilmember Imelda Padilla represents parts of the San Fernando Valley. She said she voted no because Soto-Martínez had voted against her own resolutions establishing zones in her district, the outlet reported.

Kris Rehl is an organizer with LA Street Care who has campaigned against 41.18 in the 13th District. Rehl called the vote a big victory. Case managers lose track of people who have been displaced, Rehl said, and fines can interfere with housing placements.

Celeste Voce is a board member of the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. She said she canvassed the district in July and spoke with roughly 15 people in two hours. Those residents described anxiety about tickets and enforcement inside the zones, she said.

Rehl said organizers want Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado to file similar motions. City data cited by LA Public Press shows 41.18 arrests nearly tripled in Hernandez's district in 2023, her first year in office. The same data shows the highest number of 41.18 arrests in 2024 were in Jurado's district. Hernandez and Jurado voted for Tuesday's motion. Neither spoke about it at the meeting.

Source: lapublicpress.org, retrieved August 25, 2026.