Stanton Council Weighs Limiting Motel Stays by the Homeless

Yet another Orange County city is moving toward limits on motel stays.

Stanton City Council members agreed Tuesday night that restrictions imposed by nearby cities compel them to pass a measure of their own. Buena Park, Cypress and Garden Grove all have laws--prompted by concerns about crime and substandard living conditions--preventing motel guests from staying longer than 30 days.

Anaheim, another city that borders Stanton, does not have an ordinance but recently ordered its two most troubled motels to limit stays to 30 days within a 90-day period.

“We don’t want anyone out on the streets, but we have to clean up,” Stanton Mayor Al Ethans said after Tuesday night’s meeting.

Council members directed city staff members to draft an ordinance similar to those in surrounding cities.

Stanton has several motels on Beach Boulevard known for housing long-term guests, Ethans said. Council members said they do not want Stanton to become a haven for people forced out of motels in other cities.

“We don’t want to be known as the motel-resident town,” Ethans said.

Many living in motels say they would like to move but can’t afford an apartment in Orange County. The motels by no means offer ideal living conditions, but the county has few alternatives, said Jim Palmer, president of the Orange County Rescue Mission.

The 30-day ordinances have forced many families to move from motel to motel, Palmer said. He said that’s particularly hard on schoolchildren who often have to change schools because of moves.

Ethans said the city would attempt to fairly address the needs of motel owners and occupants affected by a motel ordinance. The city will rely heavily on social service organizations in assisting those forced to move, he said.

Lee Podolak, president of the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force, complained about the increasing burden placed on social service organizations. “It would be nice if they funded us” to help carry that load, she said.

Podolak said that the county has made an effort to help the homeless by hiring a full-time homeless issues coordinator. But she said cities are simply hoping the homeless--and those living at motels are classified as homeless--will go away.

Karen Roper, Orange County’s homeless issues coordinator, also said cities should actively support social service organizations that help those displaced by motel stay limits. She said that cities need to find funding to assist with moving costs and rent subsidies. “There are human beings here whose lives are impacted by the ordinances,” Roper said.

Roper is helping coordinate such a partnership with Anaheim city staff for those living in Anaheim’s two motels affected by recent 30-day limits. But she said the real solution will come with the development of more affordable housing.