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Home My WebLink AboutOB 2 TRANSIENT OCCUP 10-02-89TO: FROM: SUBJECT: IJILLIAII A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER CONNUMITY DEVELOPtlENT DEPARTNENT TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY RECOI~IENDAT]iON The pleasure of the Counctl. BACKGROUND In addition to the background provided In the attached staff report whJch was presented to the Ctty Councll at a regular meettng on July 17, 1989. Staff have met with hotel managers per Council's request. Information gathered from th~s meetJng Is summarized below. On August 11, 1989, staff sent a letter to the three local hotels requesting thetr presence at a meeting on September 12, 1989. The Key Inn and Tustln t4otor Lodge sent representatives. Because the Be1 Att was not represented at thts meettng, a letter was sent on September 14, 1989 outlining the contents of the meettng and requestlng tnput. However, to date, the Be1 Att has not responded. · Netther the representative from the Key Inn nor the Tustln Motor Lodge had any evtdence to tndlcate that long term residents were creating problems related to parktng, overcrowding, drug trafficking or prostitution. In contrast, both reported that long term guests were their best clientele because they serve as watch dogs and asstst the management In ascertaining where the problem areas are. Guests who stay longer than 30 days comprtse an average of lOS of the total occupancy. In addition, the Key Inn Provided thetr 11st of procedures for check-Ins and preventive procedures to avotd guest problems. For example, the Key Inn wi11 not register people wtthout proper Identification, known drug dealers, prostitutes,, or ,. people on the "do not rent" 11st. City Counci 1 Report Transienl: Occupancy 0ctober 2, 1989 Page ~o CONCLUSZON i As suggested in the previous staff report, there are several alternatives available should the Council wish to take further action. Staff is prepared to study the matter further upon Council request and'direction. loemann, Associate P~anne~ CAS:BS:kbc Christine A. Shl~ Community Development Department .TO: WILLIAH tlUSTOg. CITY HANAGER FROM: ·SUBJECT: COI~IU#ITY DEVELOPHENT DEPARTHENT TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY STUDY RECOI~IENDATION -~ ' i . . ! · .. The pleasure of the Council. BACKGROUND ' · ! Li At the .request of Mayor. Kennedy, Community .Development S~ff have inves:lgated l-ii:::.:~'.~-i:..i.. the lssues associated with motels in the City being used for long Term. · occupancy, 11ke aparments. Because of the numerous tssues related to.motel" occupancy, sl~ff also consulTed the Police and Finance Depar13nents .. for 'their input, tn addition, Orange County cities were surveyed on methods for' regulating transient occupancy. Issues related ~o long Term motel occupancy and.:'-- ;urvey resul ts are discussed below. I Planning' Related and Houslng Cost Issues ' .... ii :'., .z ,z' "' The prlmary planning lssue associated wlth motels being utilized for,.lOng Term occupancy relates ~o the fact that the majorlty of hoTels/moTels are' not..destgned for permanent occupancy. Generally, they are single rooms .,. wlthout kitchen facilities and very little open space is provided. HoTels,. and motels are also only required to provide 1 parking space for each guest; unlt whereas residential units are normally required lm provlde 2 parklng spaces per unit. In these cases where occupan~ or faint1 ies .might utilize motels as semi-permanent or permanent housing, there is ' the potential for there to be more parking demand than a particular site was' deslgned to handle. .... ,.: The 1rend toward' permanent occupancy in hotels/moTels is also the result of. high rental prices t~roughout the region. By living In a..ho:~l/moTel, housing 'can be p~ovided wtthout the burden of paylng large security"' ' deposits and/or the first and last month rent. For this reason, motel "' occupancy aS an alternative to conventional housing seems attractive to some, although the weekly rates may be somewhat high. 2. Revenue Related Issues ' L Hotels and moTels are currently permitted under the City's Transient Occupancy Tax Ordinance to deduct from the Transient Occupancy* Tax calculation gross rents for permanent resident occupancies (occupancies longer than 30 days). Accordingly, the three motels' in Tustin (Sixpence Inn with 177 rooms, Bel Aire Motel with 14 rooms and Tusttn Motor .Lodge City Counc.11 Report ~luly 17, 1989 ~Page two wlth 50 rooms) have collectively claimed that $379,000 In gross rents was:":. associated wtth permanent occupancy during the past fiscal year'. SlnCe .the City's Transient Occupancy Tax Is 6[ of gross rents, current ~emp~lons '" ~ansla~ed in~ appcoxl~ely ~22,740 of ~evenue loss. to ~he. CI~y du~lng?:" ~he las~ ftscal year, Thts also Indicates ~h~ ~he~e a~e a" numbeP o~ peP~nen~ occupancies in mo~els In ~he CJ~y*' ~i~h' ~he 'use:...of.::a..,-'~..:~ . .... Tran si en thotel/motel s,OCcupanCYso~ of - Or~ance-these ~x doll ar stha't- WOUlcoul~ 1mid~1 be treal'thei zed: :1'eh g th1 n. the°f, f u ;Ute?.~:':'s ~y .'?[:;. 1 n, :~?~:.' ?~ :'-~?~":~ ~ 3. Enforce~nt Issues . ..-?. ,.. r. ; ';~ From a law enfoecemen: s~ndpo~nt, there are g lssues :o be-~ddressed. Ftrst, w~thout a m~n~mum length of s~y foe a ~:el ot ho~l. es~bllshed ordinance (~.e. Z4 hour m~n~mum and 30 day ~x~mum), p~ost~:u:~on, and activ~ty.~s difficult ~ enforce.-~-Secondl~, '~s '~e ~sue of non-paging guests. From tlme ~ :~me, :he Tust~n Pollce Oepar~nent receives requests from hotel ~nagement ~ peov~de ass~s~nce ~n removing non-paying occupants. Upon investigation of these requests~ ~t has been determined.... that an Innkeeper/guest ~elat~onsh~p had not been ~tn~ned but that of lanalord and tenant. Accord~nglg, the Tust~n Police cannot ~ke arrest because ~t ~s no~ in v~ola:~on of the Penal Code. Landlord/tenant' relations are governed by the C~v~l Code, therefore the eviction non-paying ~nanc ~y onlg be achieved b~ court order.' For these the Ctty Attorney's office has developed the following cr~:etla ~..~be.' utlllzed by the Police Depatment when ~equ~red ~ ascee~n whether~ a relationship .~s that of ~nnkeeper/guest oe landlotd/ten~nt: : ~,.~. .~ , An Innkeeper/guest relationship shall exist when the guest 'required ~ ~g fees ~ the hotel ~nagemen: on a da~lx ~sls; ~nd, (3) Hhen the hotel management refuses to accept fees for a period exceeding seven days, an i.nnkeeper/guest relationship exists,.- the event fees are accepted by the management for periods exceeding seven days, the relationship shall be that of landlord/tenant. The management of' said hotel shall provi'de 'to the Police Department full and complete records Indicating payment made by the occupants res. iding in 1ts rooms, so that the Police can ascertain the payment schedule the management has adopted with regard to a particular occupant. 4. Survey Resul.,ts Orange CoUnty cities were surveyed on methods for regulating T~ansient occupancy and the following results were confirmed. Hany of the communities utilize a fatrly standard Transient Occupanc~ Tax Ordinance (TOT) .~ncludlng;. Anaheim, Costa Hesao Fountatn Valley, Huntington 8each and Community Developmen~ DeparTrnen~ Ctl;y Counctl Report Ju]y 17. 1989 Page 1;hree I. ,. [rvine. ^ TOT ordinance establishes a definition of transient ~o - . consecutive c~lend=r days or less. In other ~ords. =ny occupancy by,reason of concession, permit, 11cense or other =gree~n=~shall :be ~ansien= un=il =he period of 30 days has. expired, 'un]ess there =gree~nt In ~itlng between =he opera=or and the Occup=nt-providing .for 'a: ' longer period of occupancy. This ~thod does not. limit the leng=h but rather permits hotel operators ~ deduc;~.+=he,'~?en.=s~'col~ec;ed"~Or,¥~.~? On ~he o~heP h~nd, ct~les such as FulleP~on, L=guna Be=ch and Bue,~"~:.P~Pk:..~' . res~lc=tons could ~chnlcally be ellgtble for exemp=ions'undeP. =he~:Ci'~y': TP~sle~ Occupancy T~x op~lnancas. The zoning appPo~ch ~]so offePs ability ~ regulate mlnlmum length of s~y in .a ~1 or ho;el"so-;h=~'~::~:-~ Conttnue ~o u=llize ;he Unlform Transient Occupancy T=x;'Ordln=nce ',. .;~ occupancy ~oP oveP 30 consecu~iv· c~lan~aP days as ~ell as pl=ctng.:a _ Beth Schoemnn ' h s i . S ing~.n..'.., :'..' ASsocla.te P1 anner ...... Director of,..Co~u~ =y .Devel.opment :- ' CAS :BX :dh :,ik .-..~ Community Dev~lopmen~ Depanmen~ ~