City Slaps Restrictions on Motel in North Hills : Crime: The action is part of a crackdown on prostitution. Owner calls the move unfair and plans to fight the curbs in court.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to impose tough restrictions on a North Hills motel that police say is regularly used for prostitution, despite appeals from the motel owner that he has tried to battle crime.

An attorney for Yung Jung Tsai, owner of the Redwood Inn Motel on Sepulveda Boulevard, called the restrictions unfair and said he planned to fight the city’s restrictions in court.

“Many of the conditions are unconstitutional on their face,” said attorney Pierpont M. Laidley, referring specifically to a condition that the manager be fluent in English.

The restrictions are the latest action the city has taken to crack down on crime at motels and hotels along Sepulveda Boulevard. Police say they have made 468 arrests for a variety of crimes last year in the area.

To tackle problems at the Redwood Inn, the council voted to impose 27 conditions on operations, including requirements that a security guard patrol the motel 16 hours a day and that rooms never be rented on an hourly basis.

Police and city officials said the restrictions are aimed at eliminating prostitution at the hotel. They have accused the motel’s management of knowingly renting to prostitutes at hourly rates.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Vance Proctor, who oversees patrols in the area, said the owner has refused to cooperate with police to eliminate the problems--a charge the owner’s attorney denies.

Laidley said Tsai has tried to work with police, but cannot comply with the city-imposed restrictions because they are too costly. He said he planned to file a lawsuit against the city because the standards the city used to declare the motel a public nuisance are vague.

“What is the standard by which the owner can determine if he is in compliance with the rules of the city?” Laidley said.

A representative for the Greater Los Angeles Hotel/Motel Assn. supported Tsai, saying the city should try harder to work with the motel instead of imposing restrictions that will only make it more difficult to stay in business.

But Councilman Joel Wachs, whose district includes the motel, said similar restrictions have reduced crime problems at other motels along Sepulveda Boulevard. “The problems of this area are tied to the problems of the motel; they are all tied in,” he said.

Councilman Hal Bernson, chairman of the council’s planning committee, urged Tsai to work with the city or face losing his operating permit.

“To the owner of the motel,” he said, “this is your wake-up call.”