Council denies business license renewal for Oxmoor hotel
When the dust settled, it was no longer clear what happens next at America’s Best Value Inn & Suites.
On Thursday, March 13, Homewood City Council decided not to renew the hotel’s business license for 2014. The decision came down with surprising speed and force in comparison to the meeting during which it was made.
During the three-and-a-half-hour event, the Council heard testimony from Chief of Police Jim Roberson, owners of the hotel and local residents. When it was time to make a motion, “deny” was the first and only option on the table.
Officially, the decision not to renew the license means the business, located at 260 Oxmoor Road near the I-65 exit, can no longer legally operate. Homewood City Attorney Mike Kendrick said hotel patrons would be given a “reasonable” time to clear out. Kendrick did not provide a specific definition for that time frame when asked.
Over the past two and a half years, Homewood Police Department (HPD) has visited America’s Best Value Inn & Suites at least once a month. Sometimes, officers are at the site as often as twice a day, Roberson said.
According to a report compiled by HPD and City Clerk Linda Cook, the hotel has been the location for 148 arrests and 241 reported offenses since June 2011. Among those, the report lists 35 arrests of wanted fugitives, 20 arrests related to prostitution, 33 drug arrest or arrests related to drug use, two suicides and one homicide.
“By my math, that’s 969 days, and you’ve had 148 incidents. That’s one a week,” Council member Patrick McClusky said.
“The chief pulled statistics from all the hotels on that exit and this one is the worst, that’s why we started here,” Kendrick said. “That’s just a matter of fact.”
Hotel owners Dennis, Mike and Shawn Patel said they recognized the high crime rate at their business and appealed to the Council for direction on specific changes.
“Please don’t think we are OK with this,” Mike Patel said. “We are not — really not. We’re victims of this as much as anyone else in the city.”
But the Council didn’t feel the same. Nor did residents of the area, including Cobb Street’s t5.
“I kind of laughed when I heard that,” Henniger said. “Because it’s hard for me to hear a business owner say they’re a victim of their own business.”
The Council allowed the Patels unlimited responses to questions. With the majority of their time, members of the family defended recent changes to the business model to note increased security measures at the hotel.
Council member Vance Moody made the motion not to approve business license renewal for America’s Best Value Inn & Suites, and five other council members followed.
Voting not to approve the business license renewal were Fred Hawkins, Vance Moody, Bruce Limbaugh, Patrick McClusky, Rich Laws and Peter Wright. Voting against were Jenifer Champ Wallis, Heather Reed and Michael Hallman.