VAN NUYS : Motel Closed, but Neighbors Still Concerned

From the outside, it looks like a victory for a community besieged by crime.

Boarded-up windows and a chain-link fence surround the Chateau Motel, a Van Nuys inn that was the target of a months-long anti-prostitution battle by residents, police and City Councilman Marvin Braude.

But it’s the inside of the closed motel that worries residents now.

“We’re very concerned that vagrants, drug dealers and prostitutes will inhabit these rooms,” said Romana Catton, a neighborhood watch activist. “I’ve already seen vagrants sitting outside it like they were the king of the hill.”

The operating status of the 36-unit motel is unclear. A sign on the office door says “Closed for Repairs.” The owners, identified by city records as Jin Chan Yang and Guey Dan Hwu, did not return calls.

Meanwhile, homeowners are pleading with city officials to stop a motel they once branded as a magnet for petty crime from becoming the free-rent home of hustlers.

“I’ve gotten a few calls so far from people wondering if there’s a way to seal off access to the property,” said city zoning Administrator Dan Green.

Last month, Green set more than two dozen operating conditions for the Chateau and four other Sepulveda Boulevard motels after deeming them public nuisances.

Failure to meet the conditions, which included hiring private security, could allow the city to close the properties within six months, Green said. The Chateau was the only one of the five motels that did not appeal Green’s ruling.

Police said they are monitoring for criminals trying to conduct business on the vacant property.

“That’s a concern,” Van Nuys Officer Joe Losorelli said. Although he has cleared a few vagrants off the property, he welcomes the change. “I’m just glad they closed it down.”

Jeff Ross, owner of a locksmith store across the street, agreed.

“It was a daily activity dealing with the prostitutes all the time,” said Ross, who said the women would come out of the motel and approach customers in front of his store. “It’s better now.”