Crime drops with closure of targeted sites
Now that crime seems to be disappearing near North Side motels that the city targeted as magnets for drugs, prostitution and violence, community leaders are working to bring business back to the area around the interchange of Interstate 71 and Route 161.
Cleaning up the problem motels has been a goal of law enforcement and community leaders for years.
Authorities shut down Columbus Inn & Suites, 6121 Zumstein Dr., in June 2013, and the Red Carpet Inn, 1289 E. Dublin-Granville Road, in January 2014. They
also filed cases against the operators of Super 8, 1078 E. Dublin-Granville Road; Best Western, 888 E. DublinGranville Road; and Knights Inn, 1300 E. Dublin-Granville Road, which remain open; the Knights Inn is now an M Star Hotel.
Since authorities stepped in, serious crimes within 500 feet of those five motels have dropped by more than 50 percent, according to Columbus police records provided by the city attorney’s office. For example, 55 serious crimes were reported within 500 feet of the Red Carpet Inn between Jan. 21, 2013, and Jan. 21, 2014, when it was closed. From April 17, 2016 to April 17 of this year, there were just 18.
“Block watches, police, residents, businesses say they see less crime,” said Bill Sperlazza, a senior assistant city attorney. “I was pleasantly surprised by how much crime has dropped.”
Sperlazza also said that fewer people have been walking across Route 161 or loitering.
“A lot of my community meetings, people talk all the time about how things are quieter. You don’t see the same riffraff walking down the street,” said Scott Clinger, the police liaison officer for the area.
“We know these places were really causing crime.”
Thefts, burglaries “and anything that supports drug habits” were a big problem, said David Cooper, president of the Northland Area Business Association. “It is a reality that we are in better shape.”
Now, leaders are working to start a special-improvement district along Route 161, where property owners would pay for maintenance, landscaping and security, Cooper said.
In the meantime, community leaders are preparing a campaign to bring back as customers visitor groups such as the All American Quarter Horse Congress, which once filled the hotels along Route 161, and to attract new ones.
“They’re not four-star hotels, but they’re good, and they’re clean,” said George Schmidt, a longtime Northland-area leader who now leads the Route 161 Task Force working to clean up the area.
One formerly busy hotel that has been empty for two years might get a new life.
The Ramada Plaza, at 4900 Sinclair Road, now in foreclosure, might go up for sale in two to four months, said Myron Terlecky, the bankruptcy trustee. The property’s owner, Pacific Rim Development of Columbus, has ties to Indonesia.
“There’s a fair amount of interest,” Terlecky said. “I’m pleasantly surprised.”
He said the boarded-up building, built in 1971, seems to be solid.
The owners closed it in 2015 after it reportedly had water damage. It also had heating and sewerage problems.
The city attorney’s office filed a case against the owners in Franklin County Environmental Court in January for code violations.
“That place is a mess,” said Clinger, the police liaison officer.
Pacific Rim bought the hotel in 2013 for $2.7 million, according to the Franklin County auditor’s office website. In 1999, it had sold for $13.7 million.
Before the Ramada Plaza closed, it had been a place for groups that could not afford more-expensive hotels.