WATERBURY, Conn. — In a unanimous vote Monday, Waterbury alderpersons chose to enact an ordinance that will ban hotels and motels from offering hourly rates, instead shifting the minimum time window of booking a room to 12 hours.

City leaders said the legislation will shut down the web of crime surrounding a few hotels and motels in the area.

“We don’t have an airport nearby, we don’t have a long haul trucking depot nearby, so we know what’s going on," Mayor Paul Pernerewski said. "It’s sex and drugs and trafficking and we want to stop it.”

A half-dozen citizens spoke at the public hearing. All were in favor of the ordinance, just like the alderpersons.

Amanda Nardozzi, Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury executive director, took her turn at the microphone to explain the devastation that

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