City Council

10B. CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1154 AMENDING CHAPTER 9.52 (PUBLIC\nLODGING) REGARDING PUBLIC LODGING FACILITY STANDARDS AND\nAMENDING PERMITTED LAND USES IN CHAPTERS 20.215 (COMMERCIAL ZONES)\nAND 20.230 (MIXED-USE OVERLAY ZONES) REGARDING HOTELS, MOTELS, AND\nLODGING AS A USE\nThe City of Stanton (“City”) observed that several public lodging facilities had become\nhubs for criminal activity. Each year, law enforcement responded to incidents at these\nlocations, including prostitution, narcotics violations, theft, weapons possession, gang\nactivity, and assaults resulting in a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in\nlaw enforcement, code enforcement, and public safety efforts. The City Council sought to\naddress this by adopting an interim urgency ordinance to temporarily prohibit the\nestablishment or expansion of public lodging businesses in December 2023 and directed\nstaff to research and prepare new regulations for public lodging facilities. The moratorium\nwas extended in January and October 2024 to provide time to study the ongoing impacts\nof these establishments and craft new regulations to address the challenges they pose.\nAn Ordinance was prepared to amend Chapter 9.52 of the Municipal Code to strengthen\nthe regulatory portions that govern public lodging facilities and establish security\nstandards. The Ordinance also proposes to amend Chapter 20.215 and 20.230 of the\nMunicipal Code so that all public lodging facilities are required to obtain a Conditional Use\nPermit and establish public lodging facilities in certain zoning districts and strengthen the\nregulatory portions that govern public lodging. The City Council is asked to hold a public\nhearing and consider adoption of the proposed Ordinance.\nRECOMMENDED ACTION:\n1. City Council conduct the public hearing, waive the full reading, and introduce for first\nreading by title only, Ordinance No. 1154, entitled:\n“AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF STANTON,\nCALIFORNIA AMENDING AND RESTATING CHAPTER 9.52 OF THE\nSTANTON MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING PUBLIC LODGING\nFACILITIES REGULATIONS, AMENDING THE REFERENCE TO\n“LODGING – HOTEL OR MOTEL” IN SECTION 20.215.020, TABLE 2-5,\nAMENDING THE REFERENCE TO “LODGING” IN TABLE 2-11 OF\nSECTION 20.30.040, AND FINDING THE ORDINANCE TO BE EXEMPT\nFROM CEQA PURSUANT TO STATE CEQA GUIDELINES SECTIONS\n15060(C)(2) AND 15060(C)(3) AND ALTERNATIVELY\nCATEGORICALLY EXEMPT PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 15301 AND\n15061(B)(3) OF STATE CEQA GUIDELINES”; and\n2. Find that the adoption of the proposed ordinance is exempt from the requirements of\nthe California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to Section 15060(c)(2) of\nthe CEQA Guidelines because the actions have no potential for resulting in a direct or\nreasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and 15060(c)(3)\nbecause the activities are not a project as defined in Section 15378 of the CEQA\nDecember 10, 2024\nGuidelines. Alternatively, find that the action is categorically exempt pursuant to\nSection 15301 of the State CEQA Guidelines as it involves restrictions on public\nlodging facilities within existing private structures with negligible or no expansion of\nexisting or former use and under Section 15061(b)(3) as there is no possibility that the\naction might have a significant effect on the environment; and\n3. Set January 14, 2025, as the date for second reading for adoption of Ordinance No.\n1154.