TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal code by adding Chapter 21.65, relating to Interim Motel/Hotel Conversions, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Motels provide needed lodging for tourists and other travelers but can also result in serious negative impacts on neighboring properties and city services when an inadequate market for rooms exists or when sufficient management controls are lacking for the facility. In October 2017, the City Manager directed the Office of Civic Innovation to coordinate an interdepartmental team to explore strategies to address nuisance activities of motel uses that affect the quality of life in the City of Long Beach (City). The team subsequently developed and tested a nuisance motel compliance plan at six select locations as part of a nine-month citywide pilot program. At the November 13, 2018 City Council meeting, staff presented the Nuisance Motel Pilot Program (Pilot Program) findings along with additional solutions to address nuisance motels. One recommendation proposed by staff was an ordinance that would permit the temporary conversion of motels to transitional or supportive housing modeled after a similar program adopted by the City of Los Angeles. City Council directed staff to bring back a proposal to implement a similar program in Long Beach.
In response, Planning Bureau staff prepared an Interim Motel Conversion Ordinance (Ordinance) to allow for the voluntary and non-permanent conversion of motels to supportive or transitional housing. There is a need for a diversity of housing solutions to address the City’s housing crisis and the varying needs of people experiencing homelessness. There are an estimated 4,000 residents in Long Beach that experience homelessness every year and nearly 60,000 homeless residents counted in the 2019 Los Angeles County homeless count. The proposed ordinance is one of several City initiatives intended to help address the housing needs of L...
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