City Nuisance Law, Bel-Aire, MacArthur Park Apartments – Jul 24, 2014

Jamie Munks
The State Journal-Register

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2,000 are waiting

One potential situation that could abruptly increase the demand for low-income housing in Springfield is if the residential Bel-Aire Motel on South Sixth Street were to close, as some city officials have proposed.

The city council next week will consider an ordinance that calls for the city “to initiate chronic nuisance proceedings against persons responsible for conditions at the Bel-Aire Motel.” The ordinance was proposed by Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe, who represents that section of Springfield, and is being co-sponsored by four of his colleagues on the council: Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards, Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner, Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman and Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin. One of the main issues with shutting down the Bel-Aire is that it would render an estimated 150 people who live there homeless.

Jobe and Mayor Mike Houston earlier this month sparred publicly about the timeline city officials should use to proceed against the motel, whose out-of-state owner is appealing $114,600 in fines related to 382 code violations found in 2011. City code enforcement has since levied more fines, so the total amount owed is likely to rise.

The SHA has 2,000 voucher holders to whom it provides services, and both the voucher program and affordable housing programs have waiting lists. More than 2,000 people are waiting, Newman said.

Chronic nuisance?

Houston said the city would consider specific plans to help place Bel-Aire residents in other housing if the motel were to close, but he refused to elaborate on what officials would do. Florida resident Gopal Motwani, who has owned the Bel-Aire for years, recently put up a “must-sell” sign on the property after hundreds more building code violations were assessed. His asking price: $750,000, plus payment of the fines.

Houston and McMenamin, who went through a similar experience with the MacArthur Park Apartments in his ward, disagree on whether the chronic nuisance ordinance applies in this instance and whether it is geared more toward property owners or tenants.

Springfield city code states that a chronic nuisance property is one where three separate criminal acts — out of a list of 18 offenses — occur within one year. The list includes offenses that involve deadly weapons, trespassing and damage to property, as well as disorderly conduct, among other things. According to a clause in the code, action can commence when the police chief receives a report of a third offense at the property within a year and deems it has become a nuisance.

McMenamin, one of the co-sponsors of Jobe’s ordinance, said he thinks Houston’s administration should have a plan in place before the city invokes the chronic nuisance proceedings. McMenamin contends there’s a way the motel could be shut down incrementally, giving residents more time to find a new place to live. “There’s a way to do it that’s fair to the people who live there,” he said.

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