City officials are considering passing an ordinance that would give owners of motels scattered around Santa Maria the option to convert the properties into small permanent apartments.
The 30 or so motels have been around since the 1920s, when Santa Maria was once used as a rest stop for travelers going up and down Broadway, which was a portion of U.S. Highway 101.
Since then, in case you haven’t noticed, highways have improved and cars travel much faster; some motels in Santa Maria have changed their focus from being a place of nightly lodging to permanent living spaces.
“The idea of the efficiency unit ordinance is to bring [the motel rooms] up to code. So they can have a kitchenette, a toilet facility, similar to what an apartment would have,” City Manager Rick Haydon explained at the Feb. 21 City Council meeting.
The current municipal code doesn’t allow residential housing in commercial zones, where the majority of motels stand. The Santa Maria Community Development Department has proposed amendments to the code that would allow residential buildings in specified commercial zones. If passed, the ordinance would enable property owners to modify motel rooms into what the city is calling “efficiency dwelling units.”
The size of the units will range anywhere from 150 to 449 square feet, depending on the number of tenants living in a room, according to city officials. A kitchenette and bathroom would be required in each unit.
Other requirements in consideration include site managers for each location, parking spaces for cars and bicycles, commercial landscape, common open spaces, and recreational amenities.
During the City Council meeting, residents expressed support for the initiative. But council members asked planners to return with more details at the next meeting. One issue raised by council was how the city could implement the ordinance.
City Attorney Wendy Stockton explained that, ideally, a residential inspection program would be created to enforce city code. However, she acknowledged that the city doesn’t currently have the funds to pay for one. City planners recommend that site managers take on the role instead.
“The kind of ‘consolation prize’ for code compliance is requesting an on-site manager,” Stockton said. “That would be incredibly useful for assigning responsibility.”
Santa Maria Planning Commissioner Etta Waterfield, who voted against the ordinance when it was first proposed to the commission on Jan. 17, expressed her concerns about the ordinance at the meeting.
“I’m really surprised that the majority of the City Council sees this as a good thing for Santa Maria when code enforcement can’t regulate the code and the laws that are already set in place,” Waterfield later told the Sun.
This article appears in Mar 1-8, 2012.
