LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles has agreed to settle a lawsuit that prevented the city from seizing the property of homeless people on skid row.
The City Council on Wednesday authorized the city attorney to settle the case brought by advocates for the homeless.
An estimated 4,200 people live in the 50-block district, many in tents and shantytowns.
The Los Angeles Times says the city adopted a law in 2016 permitting authorities to clean up homeless sidewalk encampments and store items to be reclaimed later.
But a lawsuit claimed that tents, clothes, medication and other essentials were improperly being seized. A judge barred seizures unless the property is illegal, abandoned or threatens public safety.
Downtown business groups say the injunction has hindered redevelopment efforts and fostered squalor and disease, including a typhus outbreak.
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