Single Room Occupancy Hotels

In a move aimed at easing rental costs for the working poor, the City Council on Monday approved regulations for the county's first single-room occupancy hotels. The council voted 6 to 1 in favor of the hotels, also known as SROs, with Councilman Richards L. Norton dissenting. Norton argued that the regulations do not sufficiently address parking problems that could result from newly constructed SROs.

The abundance of million-dollar homes is testimony to Orange County's longtime reputation as a location blessed by the good life, but of course those spectacular houses are not the norm. It long has been clear that the county suffered from a need for affordable housing, somewhere for police and firefighters, nurses and secretaries to live. It has not been just the homeless who found themselves without shelter in the county.

The abundance of million-dollar homes is testimony to Orange County's longtime reputation as a location blessed by the good life, but of course those spectacular houses are not the norm. It long has been clear that the county suffered from a need for affordable housing, somewhere for police and firefighters, nurses and secretaries to live. It has not been just the homeless who found themselves without shelter in the county.

The Planning Commission on Friday rejected a proposal to build a single-room-occupancy hotel in an industrial area of the city, setting the stage for a showdown over the issue at the City Council. The commission debated the plan until nearly 2 a.m. on Friday, in the end siding with opponents who argued that the hotel's proposed location near a rock-crushing plant and waste disposal operation was inappropriate. "I think this is a good facility.

Mike and Luann Mitchell pulled into Orange County six months ago and immediately knew they had a problem. Newly arrived from Michigan, Mike, without a job, and Luann, four months pregnant, had bright hopes of building a new future but they had nowhere to go.

Among the tens of thousands of homeless on the streets of New York are a handful who used to live in the old Sutton Hotel on the east side of Midtown Manhattan. There, for the fraction of the cost of a studio apartment, men and women on welfare or drifting from job to job rented small, furnished rooms by the week with a tiny single bed and a bathroom down the hall.

I believe that Alice Callaghan is only concerned with her pocketbook, not with other people, as she claims. Last year I was six months pregnant and had a 9-month-old son. We were on Skid Row and those single-room occupancy hotels do not take pregnant women, whereas the mission fed us three meals a day and gave us diapers, formula, food, clothing and counseling. Callaghan also claims that there are not many families on Skid Row. She needs to take another look. DONNA J. GABEL Sepulveda

A so-called "homelessness prevention" measure that would control rents and impose a six-month demolition moratorium on Los Angeles' low-rent residential hotels won City Council approval Wednesday. The measure is expected to be signed into law by mayor Tom Bradley. The mayor, who last week praised the proposal but said "more needs to be done" to house the poor, has called for a one-year moratorium on demolition of the hotels.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley Tuesday proposed a one-year moratorium on demolition of old Skid Row hotels, which house thousands of poor people. Bradley's proposal to the City Council and the Planning Commission is counter to statements made Monday by some members of his Community Redevelopment Agency board, who spoke of dispersing the poor from Skid Row and who predicted that the area eventually would be occupied by commercial enterprises and industry.

Members of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley's powerful Community Redevelopment Agency board openly expressed doubts on Monday that the city can keep its 10-year-old commitment to provide housing for the poor on Skid Row. "To me it seems better to disperse the low-income population throughout the county," board member Irene Ayala said.

Among the tens of thousands of homeless on the streets of New York are a handful who used to live in the old Sutton Hotel on the east side of Midtown Manhattan. There, for the fraction of the cost of a studio apartment, men and women on welfare or drifting from job to job rented small, furnished rooms by the week with a tiny single bed and a bathroom down the hall.

County supervisors agreed Tuesday to loan $1.7 million for what could be Orange County's first single-room-occupancy hotel for the working poor, an idea that has been dogged locally in recent years by financial problems and public resistance. The action is a key financial victory for Costa Mesa Village, a $4.5-million project that is to combine public and private money to provide affordable housing for people who have found it increasingly tough to meet the county's rising rents.

I believe that Alice Callaghan is only concerned with her pocketbook, not with other people, as she claims. Last year I was six months pregnant and had a 9-month-old son. We were on Skid Row and those single-room occupancy hotels do not take pregnant women, whereas the mission fed us three meals a day and gave us diapers, formula, food, clothing and counseling. Callaghan also claims that there are not many families on Skid Row. She needs to take another look. DONNA J. GABEL Sepulveda

In an effort to tackle Orange County's dearth of affordable housing, county supervisors approved a plan Tuesday that will make it easier to build single-room-occupancy hotels. "This item brings us closer to developing a truly affordable housing stock in Orange County," said Supervisor Roger R. Stanton. For people who have been shut out of affordable housing, this plan "opens those doors again."

In a move aimed at easing rental costs for the working poor, the City Council on Monday approved regulations for the county's first single-room occupancy hotels. The council voted 6 to 1 in favor of the hotels, also known as SROs, with Councilman Richards L. Norton dissenting. Norton argued that the regulations do not sufficiently address parking problems that could result from newly constructed SROs.

Mike and Luann Mitchell pulled into Orange County six months ago and immediately knew they had a problem. Newly arrived from Michigan, Mike, without a job, and Luann, four months pregnant, had bright hopes of building a new future but they had nowhere to go.

In an effort to tackle Orange County's dearth of affordable housing, county supervisors approved a plan Tuesday that will make it easier to build single-room-occupancy hotels. "This item brings us closer to developing a truly affordable housing stock in Orange County," said Supervisor Roger R. Stanton. For people who have been shut out of affordable housing, this plan "opens those doors again."

Of the first four women to move into the Downtown Women's Center Residence that opened officially last week, one was 75 years old and had been spending her nights at the all-night movies; one transferred from a Skid Row hotel where she had been living in terror ever since all her belongings, including her treasured television, were stolen, and two were essentially homeless, taking temporary shelter with friends.

A so-called "homelessness prevention" measure that would control rents and impose a six-month demolition moratorium on Los Angeles' low-rent residential hotels won City Council approval Wednesday. The measure is expected to be signed into law by mayor Tom Bradley. The mayor, who last week praised the proposal but said "more needs to be done" to house the poor, has called for a one-year moratorium on demolition of the hotels.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley Tuesday proposed a one-year moratorium on demolition of old Skid Row hotels, which house thousands of poor people. Bradley's proposal to the City Council and the Planning Commission is counter to statements made Monday by some members of his Community Redevelopment Agency board, who spoke of dispersing the poor from Skid Row and who predicted that the area eventually would be occupied by commercial enterprises and industry.