A sign in the window at the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites says its closed for maintenance effective Oct. 24, 2022. A local judge has issued an order that temporarily prevents the city of Greenwood from demolishing the hotel.
Daily Journal File Photo
A troubled Greenwood hotel will not be demolished, at least for now.
Johnson County Superior Court 1 Judge Kevin Barton granted a request by the owners of the Red Carpet Inn and Fanta Suites, 1117 E. Main St., to stay the city of Greenwood’s order for the demolition of the hotel on April 22, pending judicial review of the city’s order. The hotel’s attorneys filed a petition for judicial review on April 20.
Building Commissioner Kenneth Seal initially filed the demolition order for the hotel on March 17, citing the city’s unsafe building laws. A hearing on the demolition order took place on April 25, and the city’s Advisory Plan Commission unanimously voted to uphold the order.
In the petition for judicial review filed by Scott Kreider, one of the hotel’s attorneys, said the hotel owner would suffer “irreparable harm” if the structures on the properties were demolished. The attorneys believe the commission’s decision was arbitrary, capricious and/or unsupported by substantial evidence, according to the petition.
The hotel’s attorneys went on to argue that the commission failed to consider their evidence that the property doesn’t violate unsafe building laws, including evidence that there are no structural defects for any of the structures and there is no nuisance or harm to the public occurring on the property as the structures are not currently occupied by anyone pursuant to a separate court order. They also said that the hotel’s owner has been taking steps to improve the property and one of the structures is potentially ready to resume occupancy after “minimal steps” are completed, the document says.
The petition also cites testimony from the building commissioner who said, under oath, that each structure should be examined individually under unsafe building laws to determine whether occupancy could resume in that particular structure.
During the plan commission hearing earlier this month, city and county officials testified about the conditions of the hotel during an inspection in January. None of the officials testified that the building was in danger of structural collapse, something that Tony Paganelli, another one of the hotel’s attorneys, later pointed out. While the hotel was in rough shape, the evidence presented by the city was about fixable things, Paganelli told the commission.
However, Seal said that a structural problem is just one of the options listed under the unsafe building law for tearing down buildings. The hotel still meets other parts of the law, Bill Barrett, an attorney representing the city, later said.
Pagnelli also accused the city of doing an end-run around the judicial process, as the city and the hotel are currently involved in a lawsuit due to a hotel employee’s alleged failure to comply with orders to vacate the property last year. The lawsuit should’ve been allowed to run its course, he told the commission.
