ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : SROs: Rooms With a Housing View

Despite a strong need, Orange County is far behind others in developing SROs--single-room-occupancy hotels that provide inexpensive rental housing for single adults. Now, there’s an ordinance before the Huntington Beach City Council that, if approved, would clear the way for SRO projects there. That would be an important first step for the county as a whole.

SROs provide furnished rooms that may have kitchens and baths but are just as likely to have shared facilities. Unlike apartments, however, they have a front desk to keep track of residents, and offer easier terms: no leases and little or no deposits.

While SROs once were mostly in older hotels, these days they also can be newer, more cheerful, dormitory-like facilities. SROs lately have been seized upon as a way to provide less expensive housing in Orange County, where high rents can put people on the streets.

Some members of the council in Huntington Beach have expressed reservations that SROs could turn into slums. But San Diego and other cities have shown how they can provide clean, safe housing.

Huntington Beach and many other Orange County cities have been working with local developers and the Orange County Building Industry Assn. to pave the way for SROs. Passage of this ordinance would be a sign that their efforts are working.