In recent years, the Village has seen an uptick in Police and Fire calls for service (CFS) at certain hotel locations in the South Arlington Heights Road Corridor. In order to address these issues, Staff from the Police, Fire, Building and Life Safety, Health and Human Services, Manager’s Office, and the Village Attorney worked together to develop a draft Hotel/Motel Nuisance Ordinance that would provide additional authority to hold Hotel/Motel owner/operators accountable for repeated problems at a location.
The attached ordinance defines and outlines penalties for “Nuisance Hotels” via the Administrative Adjudication process. The ordinance outlines a series of “Nuisance Incidents” including but not limited to indictments, judgements, or convictions for such activities as:
- Disorderly Conduct
- Unlawful use of weapons
- Mob Action
- Possession or delivery of controlled substances
- Assault/Battery
- Sexual Abuse
- Prostitution
- Violation of the Property Code
- Failure to get a license or permit for an activity
- Etc.
If there have been three or more nuisance incidents in a 180-day period OR five or more documented alleged nuisance incidents during a 60 day period- as reasonably determined by the Chief of Police- then the facility can be declared a nuisance. Alleged incidents are incidents where no charges were filed but where a prohibited activity is documented to have occurred such as the recent stabbing incident, for example.
Once two nuisance incidents, one aggravated incident, or two alleged incidents have been documented to occur by the Chief of Police, the Village Manager and the owner of record must receive notice that the facility is at risk of becoming designated a Nuisance Hotel. If the incidents reach the actual thresholds for a nuisance designation, more notice must be given and a hearing will be held to determine if the hotel is a nuisance hotel. The following remedies can be imposed:
- Fines not to exceed $750 per incident
- Reimbursement of any extraordinary costs
- Requirement of new security measures
- Temporary closure of the facility for up to 180 days (special hearing required)
- License revocation of the facility (special hearing required)
In addition to these penalties, there will also be new requirements for hotel/motel security including security doors, cameras, digital surveillance, and lighting. The current draft of the ordinance has these requirements going into effect on January 1, 2023.
Staff will be presenting the ordinance and its features in detail at the June 21st meeting.
Recommendation:
Staff would like the Board to discuss, and if amenable, approve the draft ordinance at the June 21st Village Board meeting.