Los Angeles allows sidewalk sleeping

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Los Angeles city officials have decided to delay enforcement of an ordinance barring homeless people from sleeping on sidewalks.

The compromise between the City Council and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California allows for homeless people to sleep on city sidewalks between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. provided they stay at least 10 feet away from the entrance to a building, parking lot or loading dock, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The settlement stemmed from a 2003 lawsuit filed against the city by the ACLU on behalf of six homeless people arrested under the 1968 law. A federal appeals court struck down the law last year as cruel and unusual punishment due to the city's housing shortage for the homeless.

The new policy will remain in effect until 1,250 units of low-cost housing with services for the homeless are constructed by the city. Half of the units are planned for construction in and around the city's downtown.

The Los Angeles Times reported city officials believe the units will take three to five years to construct.