Hollywood Businesses set up garden beds, planters along sidewalk to clear homeless encampments.

By Tim Caputo

Saturday, May 11, 2024

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- When you walk around the famous Sunset Sound recording studio in Hollywood, you can hardly navigate through the sidewalks.Recently, however, the area near the entrance is mostly clear of a homeless encampment, thanks to new garden beds and planters.

Each were purposefully placed to make it harder for people to place tents in the area. It's an expensive fix that businesses like Sunset Sound believe is worth the money."We're not trying to displace anybody, we just need to get into our facility," said producer Drew Dempsey. "This is a private studio, and you can't even walk in because there are tents all through here."

There are now multiple garden beds and planters set up outside several different businesses on Sunset Boulevard, and people who live around the area have taken notice. "Sometimes, I have to walk on the street to get around it, now it's just cleared out, but this one is very obvious to me," said Nicholas Almanza.

Sunset Sound, in particular, has endured ongoing issues with the ever-present homeless encampment right outside their studio.In February, the studio was burglarized. Thieves broke in and stole their blank checks, forcing the business to cancel those accounts. In the last year, the building has been set on fire twice.

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