Controversial property set to close
Motel owner’s intention to close raises the hopes of neighbours
A notorious motel in south Ottawa could be checking out for good.
The New Highway Inn at 2279 Prince of Wales Dr. has been in city hall’s regulatory crosshairs for more than a year as it tries to close the motel in a rare attempt of using judicial force to stomp out a community nemesis.
The motel, the city has argued in court filings, is a “haven for heavy drug use, prostitution and other illicit activities.”
Word started to spread through neighbourhoods around the motel this week that the seedy property could be fenced off within days.
During a short phone conversation Friday, motel owner Noorali Adatia said he intends to close the motel but wasn’t certain of exactly when it would happen.
Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli said bylaw staff were recently at the property responding to a complaint when a representative of the motel indicated the building would be vacant and closed down by the beginning of September.
Bylaw Chief Roger Chapman also indicated that a motel rep told his branch that the motel was in the process of closing operations.
“It is certainly my hope that this comes to pass as the situation has been going on far too long and the surrounding community has been more than patient,” Egli said
The two-storey motel south of Hunt Club Road became such a problem for law enforcement, paramedics and building officials that the city filed a rare application in Superior Court in summer 2019 to have the place closed, at least on a temporary basis.
The city is relying on a section of the Ontario Municipal Act that allows a judge, after considering an application from a municipality, to shut down a premises because of “public nuisance.”
It was the first time the city attempted to use the legislation to shut down a problematic property and there were only two other times that municipalities made similar applications to the courts since the section of the Municipal Act came into force in 2006. The law allows a maximum closure of two years.
The city’s court application chronicled years of police calls to the motel and cited 353 police records related to the property. There had been an “endless cycle of drug overdoses and crime” at the motel in the three years before the court received the city’s request, according to the court document.
Activities at the motel “continue to have a spillover effect on the surrounding community and it has created a real concern for public safety and nuisance,” the city said in its application.
The city has also expressed concerns about the building’s safety after a fire in 2016 damaged a large part of the motel.
A judge hasn’t tested the city’s application.
A hearing is scheduled in November.
At the time of the city’s application to the court the motel was only renting rooms for long-term stays.
Adatia, who bought the motel more than 35 years ago, has been interested in redeveloping the property, which stretches from Prince of Wales Drive to the Rideau River.
He has said he knows nothing about the criminal activity at the motel alleged by the city. jwilling@postmedia.com Twitter.com/JonathanWilling