The owner of the Acme Motel, closed Friday by order of the Little Rock Fire Department, can restore electricity to a bail bond company housed there only when a licensed electrician can separate their intertwined power systems, a Pulaski County circuit judge ruled Tuesday.
The Fire Department shut down the property and cut off all utilities -- water, natural gas and electricity -- to the Roosevelt Road motel after fire marshals and code inspectors found the 36-room property to be unsanitary and unsafe. The tenants were evicted.
Tom Nickolich, who owns the motel through the Russellville-based Motah LLC holding company, petitioned Judge Tim Fox on Friday to force the city to restore utilities so renovations could begin on the property and he could reopen Exit Bail Bonds, which is owned by his family.
The Patels, who lease the Acme from Nickolich, represented by Dhirubhai and Anilkumar Patel, also wanted to be able to move back into their home inside the motel.
But Fox said he wasn't going to let anyone live at the motel until it is restored. He said he would only allow power to be turned back on if Nickolich could get the electrician to separate the electrical systems of the motel and the bail bonds office. The judge said he also would let the company turn on its big red lighted sign.
Fox's decision came after a 70-minute hearing in which Fire Chief Greg Summers described his decision to order the motel closed because of "life-safety issues" and "terrible" and "horrific" conditions found by inspectors.
"In my professional opinion ... I could not leave that facility open," Summers told the judge, saying he ordered Acme closed after consulting with City Manager Bruce Moore, who attended Tuesday's hearing.
Questioned by Assistant City Attorney Sherri Latimer, the chief said he wants the motel to again be compliant with the fire code so it can reopen as soon as possible. He said he wants an electrical engineer, architect and mechanical engineer to review the property.
Capt. Randy Davenport, the deputy fire marshal who led the July 31 inspections, showed the judge examples of problems found at the motel, including mold and mildew; a sagging roof; dilapidated stairs; exposed wiring; possible raw sewage; nonworking toilets; leaking sinks; roach and ant infestations; rodent excrement; missing or nonfunctioning smoke detectors; and damaged electric outlets.
The fire code allows only microwaves for motel cooking, but many tenants had hot plates, grills and deep fryers, Davenport told the judge, describing how grease from one fryer was spattered on one tenant's wall. Inspectors also found tenants using over-burdened extension cords, a serious fire risk, he said.
In one room, there were at least a dozen pieces of human feces wrapped in toilet paper sitting on a toilet tank, Davenport said, showing Fox a photograph of the waste pile. The Acme was "absolutely not" sanitary or safe and was one of the worst facilities he has ever seen in 17 years as a fire marshal, Davenport testified.
Davenport said he couldn't say what condition the Exit office was in because he couldn't get inside to inspect it, but from looking through the window, the office appeared to be undergoing repairs and not in use for some time.
Challenged by Nickolich's attorney, Jeff Priebe, about inspections at the property in 2011 and 2013 that reported no problems, Davenport responded that those reviews were limited to fire safety in the motel office. Those inspections were not as thorough as the ones he conducted at the Acme, Davenport said.
Davenport said Nickolich and the Patels have not yet been provided a list of his findings because the report hasn't been completed yet. The city can restore utilities when renovations begin in a way in which they can be monitored, Davenport testified.
Nickolich told the judge that Exit Bail Bonds, at the corner of West Roosevelt Road and South Browning Street directly across from the Pulaski County jail, is losing business because his bonding agent can't use the office.
"Location trumps everything in our business," Nickolich said.
He said he only learned Thursday that the utilities would be cut off. The bail bonds company and Acme share an electric meter, he told the judge.
His lease with the Patels requires them to keep the motel in good condition, and they can't begin renovations until the utilities are restored, Nickolich testified.
"We want a safe place," he said.
Metro on 08/13/2014