Sweet Briar Criminal Checks, What happened?

VILLAS — It’s been business as usual for the Sweet Briar Motel here.
Although Freeholder Gerald Thornton, liaison for human services, promised Lower Township Council in September 2006 that county Social Services would not refer any new clients to the motel until the board got a legal decision from the state Attorney General’s office and federal government if the county could conduct criminal background checks on clients. That lasted only three weeks, according to Sweet Briar motel owner Angelo Raimo.
“We’re doing fine,” he told the Herald on Monday.
State law does not allow criminal background checks because “it would place a chill on those seeking benefits,” Thornton said in 2006, quoting from a state document. At that time, he said Social Services did not know whether clients have criminal convictions.
Thornton told the Herald on Monday that Social Service does not refer clients to any particular motel but provides a voucher. It is up to the client to choose a motel, he said.
A Spout-Off to the Herald said Raimo was purchasing the Cabin City Motel. He told the Herald that was not correct.
Thornton said Cabin City Motel also accepts Social Service vouchers, which pay a maximum of $50 per night.
Thornton said the Sweet Briar is not a county issue, and that Lower Township could declare the motel a “nuisance.”
In February, Superior Court Judge Valerie Armstrong dismissed fines imposed by Lower Township Construction Office to Raimo. A daily fine of $8,000 had mushroomed into over $3 million.
The construction office accused Raimo of changing the use of the motel to residential from transient. Armstrong ruled the matter should have been brought before the township’s Zoning Board before a notice of violation was issued.
Former Councilman Michael Beck spearheaded a campaign to close the Sweet Briar, following two major drug arrests at the motel.
The township argued residents should not be staying in the motel beyond 30 days. Villas residents have complained the Sweet Briar was the site of drug deals.
Lower Township Police Detective Sgt. Thomas Keywood said the amount of complaints to police about the motel have decreased.
Two ordinances were introduced by council one year ago but were never passed.
The first ordinance would have established fines ranging from a minimum of $500 to a maximum of $1,250 for mercantile license fee violations, in particular for unregistered rental properties.
Raimo owns other rental properties in the township and told the Herald last year he would continue to move his clients from the motel after 30 days to rental properties he owns and then back to the motel for another 30-day stay.
The second ordinance would prevent persons from staying in a motel longer than 30 days and require owners to keep records of the length of occupancy for the code enforcement officer.
The ordinance would not have allowed a person to relocate to another room in the same motel after 30 days.
Lower Township Manager Joe Jackson said township Solicitor Paul Baldini was scheduled to meet with Raimo’s attorney to determine how long a client could stay in the motel.
“Perhaps, we should revisit this,” said Jackson.