Plan Would Ease Motel Residents’ Plight

Current residents of two Anaheim motels targeted for 30-day stay limits would be given a six-month transition period to find new housing under a plan given to the City Council.

The grace period would give a group of social service organizations and government agencies time to help the remaining motel guests find alternative places to live, a city task force recommended in its report released Tuesday.

Some group members have said the council moved without considering the impact on long-term guests when it imposed 30-day residential limits within any 90-day period at the 129-unit Lincoln Inn on Jan. 25 and at the 70-unit Covered Wagon on Feb. 1. The council acted because of long-standing problems involving crime and code violations at both motels.

Some group members said the task force’s recommendation signals that the city recognizes it has some responsibility for the tenants.

“This shows the city is willing to stretch and see that there’s a human side to an enforcement issue,” said Jim Palmer, president of the Orange County Rescue Mission.

The task force noted that there are numerous low-cost motels concentrated in west Anaheim, especially along Beach Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue. The report suggested that some could be converted into long-term residences or office buildings.

Lincoln Inn owner Ben Karmelich Jr. was encouraged by the possibility that his motel could be turned into a long-term residence, but said he felt that the city was unfairly forcing him to evict guests despite his investment of more than $100,000 to clean up the property. Even if the city accepted the task force recommendation of a six-month transition period, newly arrived guests would be limited to 30 days.

“I’m discouraged that I’ll still have to kick out people who have no place to go,” Karmelich said. “If someone new comes in and needs a place, after four weeks, I’ll have to tell them they can’t stay here.”

The task force noted that 20 other motels in Anaheim had had similar problems with crime and code violations, but all had come into compliance. They said 30-day stay limitations were warranted for the Lincoln Inn and Covered Wagon motels because of repeated code violations and crime problems highlighted by the police department.

The council voted 3-2 Tuesday night not to hold further hearings on the issue.

Councilwoman Lucille Kring, who voted against the stay limitations, said the report addressed her immediate concern about the fate of long-term Lincoln Inn and Covered Wagon motel guests. But she said it didn’t address Orange County’s lack of affordable housing, which draws low-income people to the motels.

“The city has come to a compromise regarding the people currently living there [at the two motels], but I have a lot of concerns about what’s going to happen in the future,” she said. “We’re going to have to do something about affordable housing.”