The Los Angeles City Council approved a measure that will make it much easier for developers of homeless housing to gain access to additional city money provided that their buildings provide residents with public storage, toilets, and laundry facilities.

The policy was adopted unanimously by City Council, despite reservations from Councilwomen Jan Perry. She had offered a proposal that would have stripped out some of the development incentives, but that was shot down by a vote of 8-5.

"It's bad public policy to offer these services...where formerly homeless people are being stabilized,'' Perry told the L.A. Times. "This type of policy does not support smart development."

Perry's proposal caused quite a stir at a City Council meeting on Friday ahead of a vote on the $18 million program for homeless housing. Perry offered an amendment to the plan that would have not included incentives for bath, laundry, and storage in the developments.

This proposal took Councilmen Richard Alarcon by surprise, and he promptly walked out on the meeting, leaving only nine councilmen available to vote. Law requires that 10 be present to rule on an issue, and so the vote was delayed until today. Alarcon, chairman of the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee, was particularly incensed because he felt that Perry should have come to him first before voicing her concerns.

"I also think it is bad policy," Alarcon said. "We are being sued for this exact reason. I have talked with homeless people who have lost their possessions because there was no place to store them. It might not be valuable to the rest of us, it might be a coat, but it is valuable to them. We should be doing what we can to promote these facilities."

Alarcon later apologized for walking out on the meeting and delaying a vote on the matter. He has recently revealed that he has a son who is mentally ill and homeless, and that this is part of why he is so passionate over the issue.