City Council

9C. AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF\nSTANTON, CALIFORNIA ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE\nESTABLISHMENT OF ANY NEW PUBLIC LODGING, LODGING FACILITY OR\nLODGING BUSINESSES OR USES, AND A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON ANY\nEXPANSION, ENLARGEMENT, AND/OR ALTERATION OF ANY EXISTING PUBLIC\nLODGING, LODGING FACILITY, OR LODGING BUSINESSES AND USES PENDING\nSTUDY AND THE PREPARATION OF AN UPDATE TO THE CITY’S MUNICIPAL\nCODE AND ZONING CODE PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTIONS\n65858 AND 36937 AND DETERMINING THE ORDINANCE TO BE EXEMPT FROM\nCEQA\nThe City of Stanton (“City”) has documented that a number of motels in the City are\nmagnets for criminal activity. This is a significant drain on City resources. Each year, the\nCity’s law enforcement responds to hundreds of calls for services that include, among\nother things, prostitution, narcotics violations, stolen vehicles, weapon possession,\nprobation/parole violations, burglary, robbery, gang activity, assaults, and assaults with\ndeadly weapons. That amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on law\nenforcement, code enforcement, public safety, and other City costs. The high level of\ncriminal activity at motels in the City poses immediate impacts on the health, safety, and\nwelfare of the community. The crime endangers residents, businesses, and visitors, and\nsignificantly degrades quality of life. Against this backdrop, the City Council is asked to\nconsider an interim urgency ordinance to temporarily prohibit the establishment of public\nlodging and/or the expansion, enlargement, or alteration of existing public lodging\nbusinesses and uses within the City. The interim urgency ordinance is intended to\nprovide the City with sufficient time to study the continuing impacts of these\nestablishments and to develop new municipal and zoning code regulations.\nRECOMMENDED ACTION:\n1. City Council find that the proposed urgency ordinance is:\na) Not a “project” within the meaning of Section 15378 of the State of California\nEnvironmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines (Title 14 of the California Code of\nRegulations) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the\nenvironment, directly or indirectly; and\nb) Exempt from the requirements of CEQA under Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA\nGuidelines, as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the\nactivity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.\n2. Adopt Urgency Ordinance No. 1136, entitled:\n“AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE\nCITY OF STANTON, CALIFORNIA ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY\nMORATORIUM ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ANY NEW PUBLIC\nLODGING, LODGING FACILITY OR LODGING BUSINESSES OR USES,\nAND A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON ANY EXPANSION,\nDecember 12, 2023\nENLARGEMENT, AND/OR ALTERATION OF ANY EXISTING PUBLIC\nLODGING, LODGING FACILITY, OR LODGING BUSINESSES AND USES\nPENDING STUDY AND THE PREPARATION OF AN UPDATE TO THE\nCITY’S MUNICIPAL CODE AND ZONING CODE PURSUANT TO\nGOVERNMENT CODE SECTIONS 65858 AND 36937 AND DETERMINING\nTHE ORDINANCE TO BE EXEMPT FROM CEQA”.