In the past year and a half, police have responded to more than 500 incidents at a cluster of hotels and motels near the Interstate 65 and Main Street interchange in Greenwood, and at least one council member wants to do something about it.
The calls run the gamut from lockouts and repossessions, to welfare checks, found children, thefts and narcotics.
In the coming weeks, the city council will consider changing a decades-old ordinance to better regulate hotels and motels throughout the city. The local rule will require that all places of lodging have a city license, and outline probation and procedures for revoking the license for hotels that have a high number of calls for police, fire, code and health department violations.
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Nearly half of the police incidents were at InTown Suites Extended Stay.
Greenwood police have responded to 228 incidents at the hotel since January 2018; 166 incidents at Red Carpet Inn FantaSuites during that same time frame; and 113 at Red Roof Inn, according to city documents.
The statistics don’t include fire and medical emergencies.
Unsanitary conditions
More than just crime is calling officials to the hotels. Mold, bugs, stains of all sorts and deteriorating structures are demanding attention too.
The Johnson County Health Department has also been called to the same cluster of hotels multiple times since 2017, when they conducted a raid of all three buildings.
During the raid, which was a joint raid with the Greenwood Police Department, investigators were not allowed in multiple rooms due to flea infestations, according to health department documents.
“So many runs, so many complaints,” said Betsy Swearingen, director of the county health department.
“I will say, InTown Suites, there is very little wrong there. Now Red Carpet (Inn) … that’s a little bit different.”
Last year, the health department investigated a report of bed bugs in the Cupid Room at Red Carpet Inn, which has themed rooms. They did not find any, but they did find rodent droppings in the bed frame, splatter spots above the hot tub, a comb with a sharp handle under the sheets on the mattress, lip gloss and peanuts in the bed and dead spiders, according to health department documents.
Also last year, another guest said they saw cockroaches in their room and people sleeping in the “food area,” but neither were confirmed by the health department, documents said.
In 2017, health inspectors noted a stained mattress, possibly blood, on an inspection report, “hole in floor” in one of the rooms and mold in multiple rooms. In one room, health inspectors said, “ceiling in entire room and bathroom moldy; archway has mold,” and submitted photos with the report which showed a significant amount of mold seeping from every corner of the ceiling.
In March, at the Red Roof Inn, health inspectors investigated a complaint and found a yellow stain and “unknown crust material” on the bed comforter, hair on a pillowcase, the air conditioner screen soiled and the bathroom sink cracked.
In 2018, a guest reported bed bugs, and a physician confirmed that guest’s bites were indeed from bed bugs. A week later, management said they had heat treated the room and called in pest control, which had not been out yet, documents said.
And in 2017, health inspectors reported faulty lights and missing smoke detectors, among other findings.
Owner Vip Patel said many of Red Roof Inn’s issues stemmed from the homeless population, but they now conduct more extensive checks of potential guests.
During a check of every room at InTown Suites in 2017, health inspectors noted moldy shower curtains, soiled floors and ceilings, various bathroom problems including leaking faucets and cracks, and they were denied access to bathrooms in multiple rooms, according to health department documents.
Managers of all three hotels said they had not heard anything about the proposed ordinance, but have had conversations with city and county staff about cleaning up their properties.
A Red Carpet Inn manager said they have been working to clean up the hotel, but would not comment further.
A manager at InTown Suites said he could not comment due to corporate policies. An InTown Suites corporate media representative did not return a request for comment.
‘Nuisance areas’
Council member Drew Foster has long wanted to clean up problem areas in the city, particularly nuisance areas near the Interstate 65 and Main Street interchange, he said.
“It’s what I ran on. I believe we can better the community and the city by better regulating hotels and getting them on the straight and narrow,” Foster said. “This just lets them know that there will be consequences if they become a problem spot anywhere in the city.”
He lost in the May primary and will be leaving the council at the end of the year, but wanted to get the change underway. As a deputy prosecutor for the county, he has been called to hotels in that area on multiple occasions, he said.
But the goal is not to target any particular hotel or area of the city, he said. It is to encourage all hotels to operate under the same conditions and have stricter guest protocols.
“I don’t want anyone to go out of business; that’s not the intention here. I want them to fix their problems,” Foster said.
Clean up could have economic benefits
Mayor Mark Myers supports the proposed ordinance. Having cleaner, less crime-ridden places to stay is going to increase travel and lodging in Greenwood, and attract higher-end hotels to the city, he said.
“We do have an overabundance of calls for service in areas that are not our normal everyday crime — fights and disputes, narcotics — and that’s not what we want, especially not at our gateway,” Myers said, referring to the fact that Main Street is the city’s main interstate exit.
“We need to work really hard to clean up the east side because we want to bring in a nicer clientele.”
On one occasion, a motel owner was selling used cars out of the motel’s parking lot, which is illegal, Myers said. Once, extended-stay guests had knocked down the walls between two rooms to create a one-bedroom apartment, said Myers, who was aware that people live in the hotels, but didn’t realize to what extent.
He expects the city council will approve the ordinance, he said. The challenge will be enforcing it.
How would it be enforced?
The proposed ordinance says the police chief will carry much of the power, because the police department has the tools to track the crime and calls for service to specific locations in the city.
Calls for service include: 911 calls that result in police or fire being dispatched to the hotel, an arrest, charge or citation; alleged evidence of criminal activity; or findings of an imminent threat to the safety of people or property, according to a draft of the ordinance. The council will vote on the ordinance twice.
Calls for service do not include: calls to law enforcement made by employees of the hotel; calls initiated by off-duty security officers; traffic citations in which the hotel’s address is used; or anything initiated by the Greenwood Police Department itself, the ordinance says.
If the ordinance is approved as is, Greenwood Police Chief John Laut will be responsible for reviewing all applications for licenses and license renewals and deciding whether to approve them. He can also choose to place a hotel on probation.
If, at any time, a hotel has twice the number of calls for service as it does rooms within a one-year period, it will be placed on probation. An example would be if there are 224 calls for service to Red Carpet Inn FantaSuites, which has 112 rooms, or 140 calls to Red Roof Inn, which has 70 rooms.
During that probationary period, hotel management would be required to participate in regular meetings with police, fire, health and zoning officials to discuss issues related to the hotel contributing to criminal activity and actions that may be taken to mitigate those issues, and hire additional security, the ordinance says.
The nine-member city council will vote on the ordinance at its next two meetings.
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WHAT: Greenwood City Council
WHEN: Aug. 5 and Aug. 19
WHERE: City hall, 300 S. Madison Ave., Greenwood
WHY: Council will vote on ordinance that would better regulate hotels and motels throughout the city. The local rule will require that all places of lodging have a city license, and outline probation and procedures for revoking the license for hotels that have a high number of calls for police, fire, code and health department violations.
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Here is a look at how a proposed Greenwood ordinance would better regulate places of lodging throughout the city:
Licenses: The Greenwood Police Department would be responsible for reviewing all applications for licenses and renewals for hotels and motels. All establishments would be required to have a license.
Probation: If a hotel has twice the number of calls for service as it does rooms within a one-year period, it would be placed on probation.
Closure: If the businesses don’t meet the terms required during the probation, the city could pull the license and force it to close.
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