LITTLE ROCK — A Pulaski County Circuit Court judge moved forward with sanctions against the city of Little Rock for what he said was intentional delay in allowing a once blighted extended-stay motel to reopen.
During a hearing last week, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen ruled that the owner of the Heritage House Inn at 7500 S. University Ave. could reopen immediately.
Griffen also openly chided city officials for what he said was a deliberate delay in actions that would have allowed the business to reopen, and said afterward that he was considering some form of sanctions against the city for not acting sooner.
Griffen issued an order late Friday that gives the owner of Heritage House, Gurmeet “George” Nerhan, until Jan. 3 to file a statement detailing the costs he incurred for his attorney to subpoena two city employees, who ultimately did not testify at the hearing on Dec. 19; the cost for his attorney to prepare for the hearing; and the travel and lodging costs necessary for Nerhan to attend the hearing. Nerhan lives in Arizona and flew to Little Rock for the hearing last week.
Griffen wrote in the order that the city will have until Jan. 10 to respond and Nerhan will then have until Jan. 17 for any necessary reply.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter said Monday that the city disagreed with Griffen’s potential sanctions.
“I have found no case in Arkansas history when a party wanting to have a hearingin court was subject to sanctions,” he said. “He has not cited any authority for that proposition. He decided we should be sanctioned because we wanted the court to hold a hearing, to do its job and for him to do what judges are elected to do.”
“I suspect that the city will move to recuse Judge Griffen from hearing the matter anyway,” he added.
Griffen ordered the motel to be evacuated and boarded up in March after several court hearings that showed pictures of holes in walls, buckling floors, broken bathroom floors and fixtures, holes and leaks in ceilings fixed with duct tape, mold and missing fire safety or faulty fire safety equipment.
Griffen said in March that the motel could not reopen until Nerhan petitioned the court for approval to reopen and showed proof that code enforcement officers had approved the mandatory fixes.
Nerhan was held in contempt of court by Circuit Court Judge John Plegge in August and fined $1,000 - the maximum fine - for letting residents move back in without seeking the OK of the court or city code enforcement officers, a move that was in violation of Griffen’s March order.
Problems with living conditions and code violations at the motel began in 2005, when the city filed a nuisance complaint against Nerhan.
That complaint also cited excessive issues with crime and drug activity at the motel.
As a result Nerhan was forced to renovate portions of the motel, and biweeklymeetings were held with motel staff, city officials and the city attorney’s office for several years.
The most recent court troubles began after a 5-yearold girl was found abandoned by her mother’s boyfriend in one of the hotel rooms.
Police described a state of squalor around the girl, including a mattress on the floor, drug paraphernalia around the room, roaches and other insects crawling on the floor, and a door that would not lock.
City officials responded with a full inspection of every room at the 102-room motel. As a result, one entire building along with several roomsin a second motel building were condemned and closed to the public.
Griffen wrote in his order Friday that the city refused to agree to a joint status hearing request or to an order permitting the Heritage House Inn to reopen.
He said those actions caused delay in the proceedings and were meant to harass the defendant and increase his cost for litigation.
Griffen wrote that the actions went against Rule 1 of the Arkansas Rules for Civil Procedure, which should be “administered to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action.”
He also noted that Rule 11 authorizes a circuit court to impose sanctions if a party’s actions are “interpreted forany improper purpose such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.”
Carpenter said Griffen’s March order said either party could ask for a hearing to reopen.
“Either party, not both parties must agree. It didn’t require the city to agree to a hearing before this could move forward,” he said. “The city didn’t join in on the petition, and we were not required to do so. There were babies sleeping on cockroaches and we’ve been trying for years to get this place cleaned up ... since 2004. This is the first time everything was even basically up to snuff in terms of living conditions and basic safety.”
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 12/25/2012