Owners of American Inn, 10220 U.S. 42, have agreed to close the motel for at least one year, beginning no later than May 31. Local law enforcement officials had asked to have the motel shuttered permanently and the building demolished.
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An area nuisance motel has agreed to shut its doors.
At a hearing Wednesday, owners of American Inn, 10220 U.S. 42, agreed to close the motel for at least one year, beginning no later than May 31. The matter was scheduled for a hearing Wednesday to force the motel to close, but each side reached an agreement late Tuesday evening.
As part of the agreement, the motel will close for a year, on or before May 31. Additionally, until it closes the motel will be required to see and copy identification from each guest, create and maintain a list of all tenants, take action against guests who have been at the motel 30 days or more, refuse cash from any local renter, create a “do not rent list” and require cleaning personnel to enter each room every day to remove trash and inspect them for evidence of damage or illicit use.
“I think we are just happy it is being shut down,” said Assistant Union County Prosecutor Rick Rodger. “Given the history of problems there and the number of times the sheriff’s office has been out there and the number of incidents there, I think this is a good resolution.”
Sanjay Bhatt, attorney for motel owners Nimeah Arora and Nutan Arora, said they want to make the changes.
“I think my client looks forward to being a better citizen in operating this facility,” Bhatt told visiting judge Mark O’Conner.
The prosecutor’s original motion details, between September of 2013 and August of 2016, the Union County Sheriff’s office had about 139 calls to the motel requiring a deputy.
The court document explains, “this high amount of calls and subsequent dispatches represents a drain on the resources of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.”
“Many of the calls involve drug activity on the premises,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors initially asked the court to close the motel and have the sheriff sell the furniture, fixtures and movable property. The motion also asked the court forbid the owners from “conducting, maintaining, using, occupying or in any way permitting the use of a public nuisance anywhere in Union County…”
According to the agreement, the owners, “have denied and dispute the allegations of a nuisance.”
The motion documents some of the calls including calls responding to underage girls having sex with adults, use of heroin, cocaine, prescription and methamphetamine drug use, domestic violence, prostitution, trafficking in drugs, theft, overdoses, threatened violence and overcrowding.
The motion also details a series of inspections by state officials. During the inspections, officials found inoperable smoke detectors in numerous guest rooms, cooking equipment in the guestrooms, extension cords being used as electrical wiring, broken windows, open junction boxes, unmaintained fire extinguishers, bed bugs and dirty carpets, mattresses, bedding and furniture.
“They would have a number of violations routinely that they would not resolve from inspection to inspection,” Rodger said.
The original action was filed last year and repeatedly delayed while the owners worked to sell the business. Officials said they do not know the business owner plans at this point.
Rodger said he had also filed a tax foreclosure on the property, but eventually dropped it when the owner paid more than $80,000 in owed back taxes.