Plan would replace Motor Inn with apartments

The Costa Mesa City Council on Tuesday is expected to hear a proposal that would begin the process of replacing one of the city’s so-called problem motels with new apartments.

The request would effectively demolish the Costa Mesa Motor Inn, 2277 Harbor Blvd., replacing it with 236 units on a nearly 4-acre property adjacent to the municipal golf course.

Converting the motel to a high-density residential development would involve a zoning change from commercial, various plan reviews and a traffic study.

The motel “is becoming functionally obsolete, so it’s time to replace it with a fresh, new quality building,” said Don Lamm, who is representing the Motor Inn’s owner, Lionel Levy of Los Angeles-based Century Quality Management.

The apartments would include underground parking, a pool, recreation center and courtyards. The owner is proposing 604 parking spaces — 50 more than the city’s minimum requirements.

The complex would be three stories tall, with units ranging from 750 to about 1,200 square feet. As with the Motor Inn, residents would enter from Harbor Boulevard.

“All around, it would be a very nice project,” Lamm said. “It’s very impressive. I’m pleased to work on it.”

The 236-room Motor Inn, built in 1972, has been the high-profile target of recent city code enforcement officers, who last summer issued more than $40,000 in fines based on 490 alleged health and safety violations in 90% of the rooms at the property.

The owner was later forced to pay $19,050 in direct fines and fix many of the problems, which included unkempt living conditions, hoarding and insect infestation.

In 2013, 497 calls to police were made from the Motor Inn — the most of any motel or hotel in the city. Its operating permit, which allows up to 40% of its rooms be used for long-term stays — defined as 28 consecutive days or 28 days within a 60-day period — is also up for review and possible revocation.

City officials said the review is not related to Tuesday’s apartment proposal.

Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger said the plan is a step in the right direction.

Mensinger and the council majority have been critical of the motel’s reportedly deplorable living conditions and strain on Police Department resources.

“With this upper-end housing, I’m encouraged to see that the council’s direction is working,” Mensinger said.

Until recently, a homeless service nonprofit had based its local operation at the Motor Inn. The Illumination Foundation’s president and chief executive, Paul Leon, told the Daily Pilot in January that his group “literally couldn’t work there anymore” and would have to move.

The foundation had been providing walk-in assistance from a motel room. City officials said the office-like situation was a permit violation that could lead to fines.