LOS ANGELES, Calif.–A proposal for more rigorous zoning restrictions to combat the rise of so-called maternity hotels will be made at today’s Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Supervisor Don Knabe will ask the board to direct County Counsel to draft a proposed ordinance to regulate the boarding houses where women come from abroad, mainly Asia, to give birth. He also will ask for the formation of multi-agency inspection teams and request funding to assist the inspectors with additional staff as well as Mandarin and Cantonese translators.
The motion comes in response to an increase in complaints from neighboring residents, and concerns about “health and safety of mothers and babies” and “the quality-of-life in residential neighborhoods when these
facilities are allowed to operate,” Knabe said.
“These maternity hotels have grown beyond the scope of a zoning issue,” Knabe said. “The conditions inside some of these houses are putting the lives of the mothers and babies at risk and we must do what we can to protect them and stop this illegal activity.”
