EL CAJON OFFICIALS BACK OFF ON THREAT TO FINE HOTEL OWNERS

Move come amid homelessness fight with the county

East County’s largest city will no longer fine hotels housing large numbers of homeless people, although officials are looking to revise the rules governing who can rent rooms.

Out of eight El Cajon hotels that accept vouchers, seven had been threatened with fines if they didn’t reduce their homeless populations, part of a broader fight with the county.

“As a sign of good faith, the City informed the motel owners that the warning notices sent out earlier were being rescinded until further policy discussion could occur with the City Council,” according to a press release sent Friday by spokesman David Richards.

The news followed a unanimous vote Tuesday by the El Cajon Planning Commission, which approved a short resolution saying the scope of the voucher program led to “illegal drug use and disturbance of the peace.”

The commissioners ordered staffers to quickly rewrite the city’s zoning code, and a proposed amendment should be ready for consideration at the commission’s Oct. 4 meeting.

The update will clarify how hotel space can be used and “strengthen the ordinance so it’s more clear,” Noah Alvey, the city’s deputy director of community development, told commissioners.

Hotel vouchers have been a key part of the region’s response to the homelessness crisis, especially during the pandemic. While more than 1,300 were recently found to be homeless in El Cajon, the vast majority were in some form of shelter, according to the last tally by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.

But city officials say police have repeatedly been called to hotels using high numbers of vouchers, straining resources.

The San Diego Uniontribune reviewed warnings sent to four that are on or near Main Street.

City officials justified the original threat by citing a range of local rules, although many are vague when it comes to vouchers.

The warnings say hotel owners are in violation of municipal code “17.145.150,” which defines what’s allowed in commercial areas.

Hotels and motels only need conditional use permits, according to the code.

Yet city leaders contend that housing high numbers of homeless people effectively turned those facilities into “emergency shelters.”

The code bars shelters from downtown. Furthermore, the city’s plan just for downtown, known as Specific Plan 182, prohibits “welfare and charitable services.”

One hotel downtown that received a warning, the Travelodge on 425 West Main St., was told to “cease unauthorized operation of emergency shelter.” The warning did not say it could simply reduce how many vouchers it accepts.

At least three other hotels are in areas that would allow shelters if owners had additional permits, according to the city’s interactive online zoning map. Richards said none had the required permissions.

Their three warnings also cited a section of the municipal code governing a business’ “accessory uses.”

An accessory use is a business’ side hustle, like a snack stand at a theater.

“Typically, an accessory use will not exceed 15 percent of the gross floor area,” the code says. As a result, the city ordered the hotels to reduce their voucher population to 15 percent. (Shelters also face a host of additional rules.)

Those three hotels outside of downtown are the Relax Inn & Suites at 1220 West Main St., Rancho San Diego

Inn at 1355 E. Main St. and America’s Best Value Inn at 1274 Oakdale Ave.

While the notices said hotels would face fines starting at $100 a day if they didn’t comply by Sept. 16, City Manager Graham Mitchell later said no penalties would be issued before he could sit down with owners and that people currently renting rooms could stay for the time being, as long as the hotels didn’t accept additional vouchers.

“The City and motel operators agreed to continue a dialogue and work toward solutions,” Friday’s press release said, and officials again asked county leaders to improve how they vet people receiving vouchers.