NORTH HILLS : Councilman Calls for Action to Close Motel
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Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs on Tuesday asked the city zoning administrator to take action that could lead to the closing of a North Hills motel that police call a magnet for illegal activity.
Authorities hope the action will eliminate calls related to prostitution and drug use at the Redwood Inn, 9111 Sepulveda Blvd., in the same way that earlier zoning ordinances cleaned up the old Allstar Inn on Roscoe Boulevard.
“The documented activities at the Redwood Inn severely impact many of my constituents who live and work nearby, and overburden the Police Department responding to so many calls,” Wachs said in a letter to City Zoning Administrator Robert Janovici.
Wachs specifically requested Janovici to “schedule the Redwood Inn for revocation of land-use entitlement proceedings at the earliest possible time,” according to the letter.
Police records show an increase in crime calls at the Redwood Inn. In 1991, police were called to the motel 39 times, compared with 46 times in the first nine months of 1992.
The calls included assault with a deadly weapon, prostitution, grand-theft auto and drug use.
Tom Henry, a deputy to Wachs, said the council could approve measures requiring the motel to curb crime by hiring security guards and building walls around the complex. A year later, if the crime rate is not down, the city can close the motel, Henry said.
City zoning administrators imposed 26 conditions on continued operation of another North Hills motel, the old Allstar Inn, which has since changed ownership, after police were called to the motel 138 times in 1991. These requirements included hiring additional security guards, building a higher wall, and adding other measures that discouraged the short-term use of the rooms.
Since that action, crime has been reduced significantly, said Sgt. Ralph Krusey of Devonshire Division. Krusey estimated the annual calls to be “down in either the low teens or virtually nonexistent.”
The owner of the Redwood Inn, Tsai Yung, could not be reached for comment.
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