Buena Park Seeking Limits to Motel Stays

City officials have drafted a compromise to a crime-fighting measure proposed earlier this year that limited hotel and motel patrons to 30-day stays.

With the new ordinance, police were hoping to crack down on low-budget motels and hotels that have degenerated into unofficial apartments. A Neighborhood Improvement Task Force formed last year found drug labs and other criminal activity operating out of motels, where suspects were renting rooms indefinitely.

“We have an issue with some of the older motels that if you don’t have a [limited] length of stay, they will turn into substandard apartments,” said Police Chief Richard M. Tefank. “That is the bottom line.”

Officials also said the city was losing bed-tax funds because visitors are legally considered residents after 30 days.

But hotels large and small objected to the limit in this entertainment-oriented city. Officials had proposed allowing hotels that could prove they were legitimate to obtain conditional-use permits for rooms rented by corporations on a monthly or annual basis.

Smaller motels objected, and in a compromise, the drafters of the law suggested allowing these motels to obtain yearly permits specifying a certain percentage of rooms that can be let for more than 30 days.

The motel owners also will have to agree to let the Neighborhood Improvement Task Force inspect their buildings on an annual basis.

They also will still have to prove legitimacy by meeting a specified criteria including maid service, safe-deposit boxes and telephones.

Most City Council members said last week that they supported the revised ordinance, which will not come up for a formal vote until the Planning Commission considers it in the coming weeks.