Motel Stays Limited to 30 Days by New Law

Motels can offer guests rooms for as long as 30 days, but a new law stipulates that after that they are illegal tenants.

The ordinance, passed by the City Council on Monday night, was drafted in the spring after the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Task Force cited a number of motels along Beach Boulevard for violations of health, fire, zoning and other codes.

During inspections, officials discovered tenants who had been living at the same address for years and also found evidence that some of the rooms had been used as methamphetamine labs.

Some motel operators, however, argued against the ordinance.

“For the city, maybe they are thinking this is very good,” said Talson Lin, owner of the Gaslite Motel on Beach Boulevard. “But for me this will kill business.”

Gaslite manager Barry Queskey gave the example of a construction crew now staying at the motel for six months. “If we lose these kinds of people,” he said, “they won’t be spending money in Buena Park.”

Others said the new policy will also be a hardship on people who cannot afford apartments. Under the ordinance, only large hotels that meet certain criteria, such as entrances that can be supervised, can apply for permits to rent some rooms for longer than 30 days.

But city officials countered that they must have better means of enforcing motel and hotel laws in a city that relies on tourism for revenue. Once visitors stay in rooms more than 30 days, they are considered tenants and no longer pay the bed tax, said Rick Warsinski, acting development services director.