City Imposes Tough Rules on 3 Van Nuys Motels : Crime: Security measures are designed to control prostitution and other violations along Sepulveda.

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to impose tough security measures on three Sepulveda Boulevard motels in Van Nuys that police say are havens for prostitution and other crimes, despite appeals from owners who say they are also victims of crime in the area.

The council’s decision represented the last step in the city’s appeal process under which motel owners could have overturned the restrictions proposed by city zoning officials and backed by crime-weary neighbors.

But an attorney for at least one motel owner suggested that the owners would continue the fight in court. The owner even hired a court reporter to attend the council meeting to make a full record of what was said during the deliberations.

The restrictions are the city’s latest effort in an 11-month battle to crack down on crime at motels and hotels along Sepulveda Boulevard. A city study of the problem in December originally identified five of 11 motels along the boulevard as magnets for crime. But since then, one has been sold and another has closed.

Under the council’s decision, the three remaining motels--the El Cortez, the Cinema and the Town House--must each abide by nearly 30 conditions imposed by zoning officials to control prostitution.

The conditions include requirements that motel managers check the driver’s licenses of tenants, refuse to rent rooms on an hourly basis, improve lighting around the motels and discourage loitering, among other things.

But the condition most vehemently opposed by motel owners is the requirement that they hire private guards to patrol the motels for at least 13 hours a day, and longer on Fridays and Saturdays.

The owners said they have already agreed to abide by some of the conditions, but they argued that the city is unfairly forcing them to take the blame for all the crime problems on the boulevard.

The owners and their representatives said the crime on the boulevard is not their responsibility but they are forced to suffer the consequences of it.

“This situation is a no-win situation for the motels,” said Angela Oh, a spokeswoman for the El Cortez Motel, who complained that the city may force motel owners to keep the guards indefinitely as long as the prostitution problem is kept in check.

But Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents the stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard where the motels are located, puts part of the blame on the owners and said he believes the restrictions will have a beneficial impact.

“The issue is, does a property owner have a right to operate a property so that it becomes a nuisance?” he said.