LITTLE ROCK — A lawyer for an extended stay motel filed a response in Pulaski County Circuit Court denying that the motel’s owner was in contempt of court for new code and safety violations found when the city cracked down on inspections after a 5-year-old girl was found abandoned at the motel.
Earlier this month, the city filed a request for an expedited injunction hearing against Heritage House Inn after police discovered the girl when she was reported missing by her mother Feb. 28.
Two days after the girl was found, city code enforcement officers inspected most of the motel’s rooms, closing more than 40 because of firecode, safety and building code violations.
An attorney for motel owner Gurmeet “George” Nerhan of Huachuca City, Ariz., filed responses to the city’s allegation that Nerhan was in contempt of a 2005 court order and a request for Nerhan to show why the motel should not be considered in violation of a previous court order to obey city codes on March 16. The responses, written by attorney Danny Crabtree, were made available this week.
The city is asking a Pulaski County Circuit judge to close the motel and evacuate the residents until the three buildings can be brought up to city code. The city also wants the judge to add a caveat that the management provide security and video surveillance to cut down on the criminal activity associated with the motel.
In his response to the city’s request to show cause, Crabtree wrote that while his client admits to several allegations, he argues that the city has not found the motel, at 7500 S. University Ave., out of compliance with previous court orders during any number of official inspections conducted over the past seven years.
“Defendant denies that the City discovered defendant to be in violation of these [court] orders on or about February 28, 2012, as alleged,” he wrote. “Nothing in that particular Order states that the Defendant is required to continue inspecting its rooms twice daily and maintain a log for eternity as the City of Little Rock suggests.”
Crabtree’s response to a motion asking that Nerhan be held in contempt of court suggests that the city’s 2005 order did not give either a specific set of directions or a specific timeline for motel management to complete them.
However, the city has said it gave the motel’s management numerous chances to correct previous problems. It says that while some efforts were made in good faith, overall, the motel is still dealing with issues outlined in the original court case against Nerhan.
Crabtree’s response states, “The City’s logic seems to be that since there are violations that were found to have existed in February 2012, then the violations must have existed continuously from the time of the Court’s Order in 2005 ... But the City’s argument is irrational and illogical in light of the fact that the City, by its own admission, has conducted inspections of the premises many times since 2005,” without seeking to hold the motel owner in contempt.
Crabtree’s filing also states that the motel’s owner has begun renovations and repairs immediately upon receiving the city’s violation reports. Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore said in previous interviews that he had asked the city’s building permits department to withhold issuing any new permits until after the court hearing scheduled for next Thursday, so any new work being done on those buildings would be done without a permit, city staff said.
Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter said that while he is not the city’s main attorney in the hearing against Heritage House Inn, he isn’t concerned about Nerhan’s filed response.
“I’m not impressed and I’m not really sympathetic to their claims,” Carpenter said. “It doesn’t really do us good to shut down places, that’s not what we’re after. It does us much more good to have places with good living conditions that are safe and healthy environments.”
Earlier this month, Moore said the city would have staff members on hand to help relocate motel residents if the city’s closure request was granted.
As of Friday, the city had yet to help relocate any of the motel’s 70 or so residents, pending the result of the hearing. The hotel rents rooms for $25 a night or $135 a week.
The conditions reported in the room where the missing girl was found include only one working light, a mattress directly on the floor without a frame, a door that would not securely lock, roaches and drug paraphernalia scattered around the room.
Broader inspections conducted shortly afterward found missing and nonworking smoke detectors, structural problems that included holes in walls and floors, electrical wiring issues and missing bathroom doors and electrical fixtures, among other problems.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/24/2012