LA HABRA : Homeless Shelter Rumor Sparks Protest

Hundreds of residents have been calling City Hall to express opposition to the conversion of a local motel into a homeless shelter, although no plans have been submitted and officials say they want to build low-income housing, not a shelter.

The controversy began after residents received a flyer urging the public to protest a proposed homeless shelter. The flyer read in part: “A city of Orange based company wants to convert the Sunset Inn between Smith’s [grocery store] and Friendly Hills Medical Center into a homeless shelter for drug addicts and mental patients! . . . These people will be bused in from Los Angeles and other cities and counties to live in our back yard.”

Officials of the Community Housing Assistance Program of Orange, which expects to receive a $4.3-million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop inexpensive housing, said that within the next few months they will propose renovating the Sunset Inn and making it similar to the Costa Mesa Village apartments on Newport Boulevard.

“It will not be a homeless shelter,” said Ken Robertson, the program’s executive director. “Our whole purpose is to create affordable, safe and decent housing for the poor and those who have been homeless but are training for a job.”

La Habra council members have told protesters that until plans are submitted, they have nothing to approve or reject.

Other residents have said they would welcome a shelter in La Habra because it would serve a need.