Guests Check In...But Will They Check Out?

Are Royal Oak motels for travelers or are they boarding houses? 
 
The Royal Oak City Commission passed a hotel/motel occupancy limitation ordinance on first reading Monday night. The ordinance is designed to limit the length of stay in Royal Oak hotels and motels based upon the current Michigan Building Code, which distinguishes between sleeping units that are for transient occupants and those whose guests intend to stay indefinitely.

"We have these motels in the city designed for people to stop for maybe one or two nights or so but they have turned into substandard apartments for long-term living," said Mayor Pro-Tem David Poulton. 

30-day limitation for motels

With the change in the ordinance, transient hotels and motels with a Residential Group R-1 rating must now limit occupancy to 30 consecutive days, or for not more than 60 days total in any consecutive 180-day period. This language in the ordinance is to avoid a situation where a guest stays for 30 days, moves out for a day and then moves back and continues the cycle.

"We didn't want to play that kind of Chase the Ace game," said City Attorney David Gillam.

If hotels or motels want to provide sleeping units where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature, such as apartment houses or boarding houses, the establishment must meet Residential Group R-2 safety standards for fire alarms, fire suppression equipment and electrical systems, which are part of the current Michigan Building Code.

The new ordinance, if passed on second reading, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2015. This timeframe gives any current licensee, who would like to continue to provide longer term occupancy, a reasonable opportunity to bring its establishment up to safety standards, Gillam said.

Motel guests are not always parole absconders

Long-term stays are a necessity in a bad economy, said Commissioner Peggy Goodwin, who said she was glad the city attorney explained the distinction between R-1 and R-2 ratings.

"It's not popular to talk about but poverty is increasing in Oakland County and I was horrified to hear somebody speak at public comment tonight that it would be better to sleep in a car for a couple of months. No, it would not," Goodwin said. "I would never want to see that in our city. There are people that are struggling that may have to sleep in a motel for a couple of weeks, or a month or maybe two months before they can find their way to an apartment. They are not always parole absconders."

During public comment, Royal Oak resident Laura Harrison reminded commissioners of two people convicted in the slaying of her 80-year-old neighbor, Nancy Dailey, two years ago. Both had felony parole absconder warrants and were living in and out of Royal Oak motels.

"To be fair, it's difficult for (motel) clerks to know who has a criminal record and who doesn't," said Royal Oak Police Chief Corrigan O'Donohue. "Our sincere hope is that our reputation is well-known and the criminal element avoids this area."

The ROPD efforts have reduced the citywide parolee population by about two-thirds in the last 18 months, O'Donohue said.

'Giant leap forward'

The last housekeeping measure before the ordinance comes back next week for a second reading is whether or not occupants of Royal Oak motels should be given notice, and how much notice, if they will have to leave a motel they have been residing in long-term. Particularly troublesome for Commissioner Kyle DuBuc is that the ordinance would become effective in January, which is not the best month to find yourself homeless.

Commissioner Jim Rasor wrapped up the discussion of the ordinance by calling it a "giant leap forward" for Royal Oak and the hotel and motel industry.

"For too long this industry has lived in the hazy back room of the past and we need to see this industry move forward. For those that want to run apartment buildings then they can do it. For those that want to run actual motels and hotels that people can come and stay at and feel safe at, this is their opportunity," Rasor said. "This industry has had for too long this grace period of marginalization."