Planners Crack Down on 2 Motels

Pushing ahead with the cleanup of west Anaheim’s troubled motels, the Planning Commission on Tuesday imposed strict stay limitations at one motel and declined to restore the revoked permit of another.

The 45-unit Best Budget Motel on Beach Boulevard became the third motel in three months to have its guests’ stays limited to 30 days within a 90-day period. The commission gave the motel until Sept. 1 to begin enforcement so the motel’s out-of-town business guests can finish projects without having to move.

The commission also ordered Best Budget to expel all food-heating appliances from guests’ rooms and replace battery-operated smoke alarms with a hard-wired system to ease safety concerns and discourage guests from staying for long periods.

The commission’s action follows a trend of recent City Council rulings limiting stays to 30 days within a 90-day period at the Lincoln Inn and Covered Wagon motels. Residents and some community leaders protested those decisions, saying it took away a housing option for those who cannot afford apartments.

But members of the council, staff and the West Anaheim Neighborhood Development Council have argued the limitations are necessary to reduce crime and bring the motels into compliance with their intended uses. The Planning Commission will meet May 22 to discuss the limitations and the possibility of converting some motels into other businesses, including long-term-occupancy dwellings.

“We’re trying to get these places to operate as motels, not substandard apartment units. They were approved as transient occupancy businesses and they should operate that way,” said John Poole, Anaheim’s code enforcement manager.

The Pacific Inn Motel on Tuesday received an even harsher sentence from the commission, which denied an appeal for reinstating the motel’s operating permit. Since its permit was revoked in 1998, the motel has been operating illegally, according to a city staff report.

An attorney for the Pacific Inn argued the commission should consider reinstatement because crime had decreased and the motel’s appearance improved.

The commission said reinstating the motel’s permit would not be a good land-use decision, given that west Anaheim already has too many motels.

“We would not allow this use for the property in this day and age,” Commissioner John Koos said. “It’s clear there are other enormously viable uses. It’s clearly a land-use decision.”

But the attorney for the Pacific Inn, Berne Hart of Irvine, said the commission was unfairly singling out his client. “We don’t think it’s fair to single out the Pacific Inn when other motels are allowed to continue operating in the area,” he said.

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Judy Silber can be reached at (714) 966-5988.