Longtime Motel Tenants Get Moving Date

Long-term residents at the Lincoln Inn and Covered Wagon motels in Anaheim will have until Jan. 15 to move out of rooms some have called home for years, the Anaheim Planning Commission voted Monday.

A motel task force had recommended the evictions be delayed until next year to allow the residents time to find new housing. It will also give the motels time to comply with City Council rulings limiting guests’ stays to 30 days within a three-month period.

Both the Lincoln Inn and Covered Wagon motel owners objected to the votes, which also state that guests moving into the motels after Monday may stay only for 30 days. They said their businesses will be hurt and that there are few low-cost housing alternatives in Orange County.

“This is unethical of the city,” said Ben Karmelich, owner of the Lincoln Inn. “They’re making me do their dirty work because they don’t want these people in town.”

Karmelich said he will continue fighting the 30-day limitations.

“There should be some remedy for poor people who are working and trying to find an apartment,” added Gregory Parkins, owner of the Covered Wagon. “To just kick them out after 30 days won’t work.”

Tim Mittio, who has lived at the Lincoln Inn for six years, said the 30-day rule could make things worse, with a complete turnover in clientele every month. Right now, he said, people know one another.

“It’s a peaceful community. Why turn it over every 30 days and possibly bring in the bad elements?” he said.

City officials say the restrictions are being imposed only on Anaheim’s most troubled motels and are necessary to curb crime and reduce the risks of hazardous wiring and plumbing, inoperable smoke detectors and other problems caused by long-term tenants.

The Best Budget Motel is the third motel subject to the restriction. Planning commissioners echoed previous remarks by city council members, saying the motels are not meant for long-term occupancy. They cited a city staff report that found that if zoned as apartments, the properties’ maximum occupancies would be 36 units per acre. The 129-unit Lincoln Inn has 76 units per acre, while the 70-unit Covered Wagon has 54 units per acre.

“This is a very dense project,” Commissioner Paul Bostwick said about the Lincoln Inn. “It was not designed as a long-term residential project. It was designed as a motel.”