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# Merchants ‘fed up’ with inaction
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/merchants-fed-up-with-inaction/
- Published: 2003-02-26T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:39:18.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness

*Status quo for homeless who sleep downtown*

It has been four months since the City Council banned sleeping in downtown doorways, but local merchants say homeless people still use their front doors as rest stops.

Homeless campers still congregate in doorways overnight and use entryways as bathrooms, according to business owners anxious to see the new ordinance enforced.

No citations have been issued and no arrests have been made under the new law, said Santa Monica Police Department Lt. Frank Fabrega.

Fabrega said police are working collaboratively with the city attorney’s office and the community cultural services to determine when enforcement should begin.

“Before enforcement begins officers will contact violators and educate them before actual enforcement begins,” he said. “We must be mindful that the potential violators may not have access to modern technology and we want to ensure that they have been adequately informed of the new laws.”

City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said the law — like all amendments adopted by the council — took effect 30 days after being voted into existence, which occurred in October 2002.

“I know of no reason (why the law would not be enforced),” Moutrie said. “Certainly there is no lag time in the city attorney’s office, and no bar to enforcement.”

As the law sits idle in City Hall, downtown merchants are frustrated over the number of homeless people camping in front of their stores.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Ruth Ewell, owner of Ye Olde King’s Head on Santa Monica Boulevard. “Every single night there’s an encampment of homeless people (in our neighbors’ doorways). And they use our stairways as toilets.”

Ewell said downtown merchants generally support social services but see the homeless problem as a threat to their livelihood.

“It’s not that we’re against homelessness,” she said. “We’re out there, helping. But we have an obligation to our employees and it’s hard to keep things going (with the homeless presence).”

Marie Scott, who manages Art One on the Third Street Promenade, said the homeless problem has gotten steadily worse over the 30 years she’s lived in Santa Monica and the new law hasn’t helped.

“It worked for about 10 minutes,” Scott said. “Now you don’t see the police presence and (the homeless) have come right back. I’m fed up.”

Kathleen Rawson, executive director of Bayside Corp., a non-profit organization that manages downtown in conjunction with the city, said she doesn’t know why the law isn’t being enforced.

But she added that many merchants have contacted Bayside seeking protection under the law.

The ordinance calls for merchants to post a sign in their storefronts citing the code, which stipulates that it’s illegal to lie or sit in doorways and vestibules from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. A violation of the law carries a maximum penalty of up to $1,000 in fines, six month in jail, or both.

Wording for the mandatory sign can be obtained through Bayside or at the City Attorney’s office.

Amidst widespread controversy, the City Council passed two ordinances in October aimed at appeasing business owners, tourists and residents, who complained the city had become a magnet for homeless people who aggressively panhandle and urinate in public. The council reasoned that the new laws are aimed at protecting public safety because of the unsanitary conditions that some people’s anti-social behavior are creating.

The majority of the council voted to make it illegal to sleep in front of downtown businesses’ doorways, as well as requiring groups who feed the hungry in public parks to go through a rigorous government process to get a permit from the city and the Los Angeles County Health Department to provide meals in a public place.

Some people said by making it more difficult to serve food, it would reduce the number of charity groups who come to Santa Monica to help the homeless. City officials say the law is designed to protect the public from potential health problems associated with distributing food as well as to prevent one group from dominating a public space.

The public feeding law is currently being challenged in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. City officials have said enforcement may be delayed so health officials can educate the 30 private groups that regularly host feedings.

Mayor Richard Bloom, who coauthored the sleeping ordinance, couldn’t say why the law wasn’t being enforced.

“The law’s not on hold, it’s been enacted and the council has not issued any injunction,” he said. “City staff has the obligation to follow through (on these laws).”

> “The law’s not on hold, it’s been enacted and the council has not issued any injunction.” — — RICHARD BLOOM Santa Monica mayor

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/022603-01_01-7.jpg)

Signs such as this one must be posted in stores for the new law to take effect. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 26, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)