1 of 2
Photo by Jeff Thompson
America's Best Value Inn & Suites
the Homewood City Council will hold a public hearing to discuss revoking the business license for America's Best Value Inn & Suites on Oxmoor Road.
2 of 2
America's Best Value Inn & Suites 2
In a rare use of the Homewood Municipal Code, the City Council has taken steps necessary to revoke a local business license.
The owners of America’s Best Value Inn & Suites, located on Oxmoor Road at the I-65 interchange, will have the opportunity to defend their business in a public hearing on Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. The hearing is slated to be held at Homewood City Hall in the Council Chambers.
Homewood City Council set the public hearing at its Feb. 24 meeting. According to Council member Peter Wright, who originally suggested the council take action against America’s Best Value Inn & Suites, the business “is not in line with the standards of our community.”
Wright said America’s Best Value had been the site of multiple alleged incidents involving drugs and prostitution reported to the Homewood Police Department. In addition, The Homewood Star confirmed reports of a fatal shooting at the hotel in 2013.
“This is a nice community, and we want to keep our measures proactive in stopping problems,” Wright said.
Staff at America's Best responded to notice of the hearing with a prepared statement. It reads:
"We have already implemented many new policies and procedures in our hotel and also heightened the presence of security by having a security guard on property. We are also adding more security cameras on top of the current 51 cameras we already have on property to tackle this problem that we are discussing.
“We want to make it very clear that we do not condone any negative types of activities or the issues that a customer conducts themselves into. We are more than willing to comply and cooperate with the city of Homewood in moving forward to not only improve the preventative measures we already have intact for any future mischievous activities and types of nuisance but also improving and revamping the entire exit (I-65 at Oxmoor Road) as a whole so we are all able to help keep this exit on a positive level the way it should be.
“We want to help in anyway we can to drive all and any negative elements out of our city. One business or hotel is not the problem and cannot make the change for the entire exit. It is going to take a team effort with all the businesses on this exit working together with the city of Homewood to make a difference, and we foresee this being a successful resolution and positive step for our city."
The City of Homewood Municipal Code reads that the Council can revoke a business license if the business is in violation of any ordinance of the municipality, or any statute of the State of Alabama relating to the business. It is not known which ordinance or statute the Council intends to cite during the hearing.
According to the Code, the Council will hear all evidence relating to the revocation of the business license for America’s Best Value Inn & Suites during the hearing. If the Council does decide to revoke the license, the business could be "punished up to the maximum amount allowed by Alabama State Law" for each day it continues operation.
Wright said the practice of revoking a business license is extremely rare for the Council, but he said he would like the result of the public hearing to take the form of a remedy.
“Our community is better than this business and what’s going on at this business,” Wright said. “And if that means America’s Best keeps its license or the license is revoked, I will support the decision.”
