Stanton motels have become a magnet for criminal activity, city officials say, draining resources and costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars.
In the past five years, cops have been responding to hundreds of calls annually to an array of crimes ranging from prostitution, drugs, gang activity, robbery and assaults with deadly weapons at local motels – especially on Beach Boulevard – in one of OC’s smallest cities.
Now city leaders are calling for a moratorium on allowing new motels to be built in Stanton and a temporary ban on expanding current motels in effort to protect public safety and to conduct a study on the issue.
Last week, Stanton officials voted on an urgency ordinance to implement the moratorium with little discussion in a city where more than half of the annual budget – over $16 million – goes toward public safety and law enforcement.
Mayor David Shawver said at the meeting the moratorium will allow city staff and law enforcement an opportunity to study each motel and find out how to make them safe.
“That’s going to be a big step in the right direction,” he said.
Because one of the council members live near the motels the city council segmented the vote in two parts with the first vote on the Chester Inn, Jade Palace, Motel 6, and the Casa Playa Inn & Suites which passed unanimously.
The second vote was on the remaining three motels operating in the city – the Dixie Motel, the Starlight and the Villa Motel which passed 4-0 with City Councilwoman Hong Alyce Van stepping out of the room.
The moratorium comes after over 3,000 calls for service at the motels in the city since 2019 – with more than a third of those calls in response to the Motel 6, according to a staff report.
The new ordinance isn’t the only way Stanton is looking to curb the criminal activity at motels in the city.
The city is putting in $6 million and utilizing a state program called Project Homekey to convert the Tahiti Motel, the Stanton Inn & Suites as well as The Riviera Motel into permanent supportive housing for homeless people.
[Read: Homeless People Living at Two Stanton Motels Could Soon Be Back on the Streets]
The ordinance will remain in effect for 45 days.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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