Jan. 29 UPDATE: The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today directed staff to draw up tentative provisions for a possible ordinance to crack down on hotels and motels that cater to prostitutes and their clients.
"Prostitution, combined with drug abuse, is a prevalent problem," said Supervisor Jeff Stone, who proposed implementing an anti-pandering measure encompassing all of the county's unincorporated communities.
"We need a multi-pronged approach to regulate the hotel-motel industry," he said. "There need to be disincentives to providing a place for this type of activity."
The board voted 4-0 -- with Supervisor John Tavaglione absent -- to direct the Office of County Counsel to study the feasibility of an ordinance and report back with tentative provisions in 60 days.
Stone said the county's ordinance might replicate one regulating overnight hotel and motel stays in the city of Los Angeles.
According to county attorney Pamela Walls, the city of Riverside also has an ordinance to stymie illicit activity at lodges, which could guide the county's effort.
"Where property is devoted to the business of a hospitality establishment and is held out to the public as a place where transient persons will be received and entertained as guests for compensation, it is affected with a public interest and the business and use are subject to reasonable public regulation," Stone wrote in his "Hospitality Ordinance" proposal.
The supervisor said escalating levels of "human trafficking and prostitution in unincorporated areas of Riverside County" required a strong response by local authorities. He pointed specifically to the Hemet Valley.
"I'm not going to rest until these issues ... go away," he said.
According to the supervisor, a new ordinance might include a prohibition against renting rooms by the hour or knowingly renting to prostitutes or their clients.
Supervisor Kevin Jeffries expressed concerns about overreaching and penalizing establishments that depend on short-term business, including travelers who only want to snag a few hours rest before hitting the road again.
Stone said any ordinance would incorporate exemptions for legitimate short turnarounds.
Jan. 28 ORIGINAL POST: Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone is expected tomorrow to discuss the possibility of a countywide ordinance intended to curb prostitution and other illegal activity by regulating to whom hotels and motels can rent rooms.
"Where property is devoted to the business of a hospitality establishment and is held out to the public as a place where transient persons will be received and entertained as guests for compensation, it is affected with a public interest and the business and use are subject to reasonable public regulation," Stone wrote in a document posted to the Board of Supervisors' agenda.
The board meeting is slated for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the County Administrative Center.
Stone is seeking fellow supervisors' support in requesting that the Office of County Counsel study the implications of a "Hospitality Ordinance" and how far the county can go in regulating private establishments.
Stone said in his proposal that escalating levels of "human trafficking and prostitution in unincorporated areas of Riverside County" required a strong response to enable local authorities to curtail "these types of undesirable activities."
According to the supervisor, a new ordinance might include a prohibition against renting rooms by the hour and knowingly renting to prostitutes or their clients.
The proposal, if enacted, would only affect hotels, motels and other lodges in unincorporated communities.
Supervisor Stone's third district includes the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Hemet and San Jacinto, as well as nearby unincorporated areas. --City News Service
