Los Angeles clears homeless encampment near Hollywood recording studio

The city of Los Angeles emptied a homeless encampment near Hollywood's famed Sunset Sound recording studio Friday and moved more than 30 people into temporary housing, officials said.

The longtime encampment next to the Sunset Boulevard recording studio had become a hot spot in the neighborhood. Sunset Sound's owner had previously complained that the encampment, sidewalk fires and a break-in had threatened the business and made big-name artists uncomfortable.

A stack of blank checks was stolen from the company during a February burglary, and employees found human feces on a battery, Sunset Sound president Paul Camarata told the media earlier this year . He said he put cacti in huge wooden planters on the sidewalk to try to deter the encampment from reappearing.

The encampment was emptied as part of Inside Safe, the program launched by Mayor Karen Bass that took homeless people off the streets and into hotels, motels and other facilities rented by the city.

On Wednesday, days before the operation, about a dozen tents and other structures were visible outside the studio at Sunset and Cherokee Avenue.

Bass' office said that between the Hollywood operation and another operation in Windsor Square at 6th Street and Van Ness Avenue, more than 35 people were temporarily housed this week.

Photos shared by the mayor's office showed Bass speaking to unhoused people on the sidewalk outside Sunset Sound and on a city bus Friday.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, whose district includes Hollywood, said everyone living in the Sunset encampment accepted “services and housing.”

“Many people living in this encampment have been on the same street for over five years, and now they can finally move into housing thanks to Inside Safe,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement.

The iconic recording studio, opened in 1960, has been used by such renowned artists as Elton John, Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Janis Joplin, Van Halen and Prince.

Representatives for Sunset Sound did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.

Times Staff Writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.