Ordinance Targets Police, Rescue Calls

COURT HOUSE – In August, Middle Township Committee met with many owners of 15 motels and hotels licensed in the municipality. The focus was excessive use of police and emergency services by a number of those properties, especially those that have transitioned from motels catering to the tourist trade to becoming rooming houses for longer-term residents.
In 2016, according to police statistics, calls for police services numbered almost two per day to the motel properties, many of which are clustered in Rio Grande.
The meeting was part of an intended dialogue with those property owners.
What Caused Action?
The Oct. 16 Middle Township Committee meeting witnessed an attempt by the municipality to introduce an ordinance that would, among other things, establish a “trigger” level of calls above which the motel owner might be subject to sanctions.
The ordinance seeks to redirect the costs of “excessive consumption of municipal services” by “nuisance properties” directly to the property owners, but the ordinance was tabled until Nov. 6.
While the ordinance establishes protections to prevent it from burdening those who legitimately need police and emergency services, the document is the product of frustration on the part of police and township officials who have been seeking ways to encourage motel owners to run properties in ways that reduce the likelihood to need police intervention.
Committee member Timothy Donohue pointed to the concentration of calls for service in a small area of Rio Grande where many of the motels are located.
“We are a township of 72 square miles, and the concentration of calls is in a small area,” he said. “The taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for this,” he added.
The ordinance defines the types of calls that would be counted against a threshold which, when crossed, results in penalties.
It establishes a hearing procedure to ensure the ordinance is being enforced as intended and lists fines that can be levied for violations, including the process by which the township can establish a property lien for non-payment of the fines.
Volume of Calls
Call volume levels are also set depending on type and size of a “multifamily dwelling.” A motel with 40 units would be allowed 10 qualifying calls in a 60 day period, one with 41 to 80 units would have a 20-call threshold, while one with over 80 units would see its call level set at 30.
The ordinance also defines what constitutes a qualifying call in an effort to keep the ordinance focused on “nuisance properties.”
The new regulations establish periods where owners can take actions to reduce the number of calls. If the “qualifying calls,” which are defined in the ordinance, continue, a series of progressively harsher remedies are available to the township.
Motel Owner Objects
The owner of four of the motels, including one that was ranked highest in the police statistics for 2016 calls, retained an attorney to present objections to the adoption of the ordinance. A letter from the attorney was introduced into the record by Township Solicitor Frank Corrado.
Corrado indicated that there were two categories of objection to the ordinance by the attorney for the owners. The first was on “constitutional grounds” pertaining to an attempt by the township to limit access to police and emergency services.
The second was on due process grounds objection to the proposed hearing process for violators. The attorney’s letter opens the door for state or federal court by the motel property owners against the ordinance.
In order to provide Solicitor Frank Corrado with time to meet with the attorney for the motel owners, the committee tabled the introduction of the ordinance until its meeting on Nov. 6.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.