Members of the Encino neighborhood council are looking into possible locations for a transitional housing facility for people who have experienced homelessness, as part of a focus on homelessness issues in the Sepulveda Basin.

The council – an advisory board to the L.A. City Council – will hold a discussion on the topic Wednesday evening during its homeless committee meeting.

According to the meeting’s agenda, residents are seeking “a suitable property for placement of a Bridge Housing facility in or proximate to the Sepulveda Basin, with consideration being given to environmental concerns, flooding risk, and community concerns.”

Neighborhood Council President Alex Garay said that once a location for a possible housing site has been decided upon, the council’s board will eventually appeal to L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz with a recommendation for a housing project as part of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s campaign to generate more supportive housing across the city.

“All the homeless people living in there have to go somewhere, so we’re looking for emergency bridge housing that makes sense and that will be accepted by the residents in the community,” he said. “Homelessness isn’t just an Encino concern, its a citywide concern. And as an advisory board to the city we’re looking to help the city out.”

Pockets of the Sepulveda Basin Area, home to the Sepulveda Dam and recreation centers sandwiched between Encino and Balboa Park, are some of the Valley’s most longstanding encampments built by people experiencing homelessness.

“The 2018 Homeless Count only reports 31 homeless persons in the entire Sepulveda Basin. This very low number does not seem plausible,” wrote the neighborhood council’s agenda report. “The homeless count is a major factor in allocation of services, and there is a significant impact of the homeless in the Sepulveda Basin on our community.”

The neighborhood council will request information from LAHSA on its methodology used in its January homeless count in the basin and data on the deployment of services.

The Encino Neighborhood Council’s Homelessness Committee meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at 4924 Paso Robles Ave.