Motel Residency Bill Gets Backing From Cypress Council

A bill in the Legislature that would crack down on motels with permanent residents has drawn the support of the City Council.

The council, heeding the advice of the League of California Cities, unanimously voted to support Senate Bill 2133. That measure calls for requiring motels having permanent residents to comply with the same housing codes as apartments.

The bill will encourage safer and cleaner housing conditions in cities “by making motels that house permanent residents comply with state housing laws for permanent apartment housing,” said City Manager Darrell Essex, in a memo to the council.

Essex said the bill “provides that no building originally designed or approved for transient occupancy shall be used as a residential building unless the owner of the building complies with all zoning, building and other standard local permits.”