ANAHEIM : Council Approves Hotel Expansion

A west Anaheim motel will be allowed to expand by 24 units and renovate an existing structure under a construction plan approved this week by the City Council.

At the hearing, one resident spoke against the expansion, arguing that motels in the area may prove to be havens for drug dealers and prostitutes. The resident, George Brott, added that the area is congested with traffic and noise and said that the addition would increase those problems.

The renovation of the Madrid Motel was approved 3 to 2, with Councilmen Tom Daly and Irv Pickler dissenting. They argued that the plan, which will expand the motel at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Knott Street to 42 units, may exacerbate crime and other problems related to overcrowding in the area.

“I think this area is a bad area, and it needs to be cleaned up,” Pickler said.

However, Mayor Fred Hunter said he was confident that the motel is not the source of the area’s problems.

“I don’t think we ought to blame everything going wrong in that end of Anaheim on this guy’s motel,” Hunter said.