Middle’s Motels Scrutinized

COURT HOUSE – In 2016 there were 673 police calls for service from Middle Township’s 15 licensed motels and hotels, or close to two per day.
Middle Township Committee devoted most of its Aug. 21 work session to a discussion aimed at improving the conditions that often call for police intervention.
Township Administrator Elizabeth Terenik said the goal was to reduce the drain on township resources and improve the quality of life for residents of Rio Grande where most of the municipality’s motels are located.
The meeting drew representatives from most of the existing properties in the township.
Mayor Michael Clark said he hoped that open discussion would give the township “ideas to work with” in helping motel owners improve the experience at their properties.
Terenik pointed out that hotels and motels in the township are no longer an accepted form of land use. The existing 15 properties are legal, but no new establishments would gain approval for development in the township.
Police Calls for Service
Police Chief Christopher Leusner compiled statistics on two full years of police calls for service to area motels, along with the numbers for the first half of 2017.
Leusner said he included only calls that originated at the properties requesting police to respond. His intent was to establish a common frame of comparison.
The methodology Leusner employed left out any officer-initiated visits to the properties, where a police officer might be searching for a suspect or otherwise checking a property at his/her initiative.
He also noted that visits by other law enforcement agencies such as the County Prosecutor’s staff or the Sheriff’s Office were not included. “That means that if these other things were included the numbers would be higher,” he said.
Given the data he compiled on those calls, 2016 represented a 4 percent increase in calls over 2015. That increase represented an extra two calls per month for the entire 2016 period to the 15 locations. The year-to-year movement was an increase, not a decrease overall.
Leusner noted that there was great variance in the numbers. Some properties had very low levels of calls amounting to less than one per month.
Others exhibited patterns of calls for police that were much higher. One property averaged 15 calls per month in 2016 or just about one every two days.
Two Groups of Properties
Terenik said that the hotels and motels in the township fell into two groups.  The first functioned largely as one would expect a motel to function with a seasonal clientele of vacation visitors staying for short periods. 
Others, she noted, had become residences, housing people for long periods, in some cases as part of the state and county voucher program.
Discussion of the voucher program exposed complications that confront the township as it seeks ways to reduce the need for police at area motels.
Once individuals have lived in a location for an extended period, new laws may come into effect that makes ousting them harder, requiring a formal eviction process.
Township Solicitor Frank Corrado said that it was not immediately clear what limitations the state voucher program may have on potential township actions.
All seemed to agree that identifying a disruptive or negative influence among a motel’s clientele early in the individual’s stay offered the most flexibility for dealing with the individual.
Carrots and Sticks
Corrado emphasized that this discussion was the beginning of a dialog with the property owners and not the end. “We want to hear from you about what the best solutions are,” he said.  “You’re the experts, not the township.”
Corrado spoke of “carrots and sticks,”  penalties and incentives.
The township is exploring new requirements that might be part of a future ordinance.
One concept is establishing some form of threshold in the annual calls for service. Once that threshold is breached the motel property owner might be required to hire on-site security or could face some form of municipal fee.
Adjust Fee?
There was also discussion of adjusting the license fee structure to create potential incentives for well-run establishments, giving them access to a lower fee.
Corrado mentioned the possibility of the township exploring the use of a redevelopment zone status which would provide tax benefits and zoning regulation exceptions that could encourage the redevelopment of properties.
Asked if his department would share the specifics of police calls for service with motel owners, Leusner said: “We will share all the information that the law allows us to share.”
He said the department’s Street Crimes Unit has a liaison with each of the motel properties and that owners should reach out to that officer assigned to them for information.
Best Practices
Leusner urged the property owners to embrace best practices in managing their motels.
Some of those best practices discussed included early self-policing of clientele; weed out trouble makers before housing laws kick in.
Place limits on times when visitors are allowed. The motel owners spoke of the problem of unauthorized visitors who essentially move in with the individual on the registration form.
Other ideas included the presence of security equipment, such as cameras, and the presence of on-site management 24 hours a day.
Leusner and Terenik focused on a need for action. Leusner pointed out that the township “has been here many times before.” 
Terenik added, “If we don’t take action this time we will have wasted everybody’s time.” 
The aim appeared to be the development of new policy that would be embedded in ordinances governing the operation of motels and hotels.
This attempt will probably be more nuanced than current ordinances concerning a property’s size, its use of long-term residents and similar matters.
Deputy Mayor Jeffrey DeVico was clear that the township did not want to establish policies that would discourage the property owners from calling for police or emergency medical service when they are needed.
The aim is to promote an environment in which the need for police will not arise so frequently.
“We are trying to help you get to a better place with your property,” Terenik said.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.