Dozens of families living in Greenwood Village hotels and motels will have to start looking for new homes if the City Council on Monday passes a measure limiting a hotel stay to no more than 30 days.
The city claims the ordinance is needed because hotels, which lack residential zoning, are not equipped to operate as long-term living facilities.
Hot plates and electric griddles pose a fire danger not only to those using them but to everyone else in the building, city leaders say.
“These hotels were never to be lived in,” Greenwood Village city attorney Tonya Haas Davidson said last week.
The city also points out that calls for police service are appreciably higher at the four hotels in town that permit people to live there.
City Council approved the hotel stay limit on first reading last month. The restrictions wouldn’t apply to extended-stay hotels.
But those who have fallen on hard times and just need a little time to get back on their feet feel like they are under attack.
Tommy Southerland, who has lived in the Motel 6 at Arapahoe Road and South Boston Street with his family since the end of last year, said Greenwood Village’s measure goes too far.
“I think they’re picking on everybody when they should just be picking on a few people,” he said. “You can burn a hotel down with a cigarette during a one-night stay.”
Amie Mayhew, president and CEO of the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association, said she’s never heard of another municipality in the state passing such an ordinance.
The law would give long-term hotel and motel patrons in Greenwood Village until Nov. 1 to find a new place to live. A daily fine of $499 could be levied against the hotel operator, or the occupant, for violations beyond the stay limit.
The hotel operator would be responsible for moving out long-term residents on a voluntary basis. But because Colorado law gives tenancy rights to anyone residing at one location for 30 days or more, those who refuse to leave could face eviction.
“The burden is on the hotel to comply with the ordinance,” Haas Davidson said.
Southerland, a tile-setter with three children and a fiancée, said he barely has time to attend to his job and family let alone look for new housing.
“We’re all just having to save our money and try to find somewhere cheap,” he said.
Besides hurting poor working families, Mayhew said, the measure will affect workers staying in the city for construction and other limited-duration jobs.
“There are a lot of people and companies who use hotels for more than 30 days, and that’s good for the economy,” she said. “The concept of having to check out and move into a new hotel after a month is frankly ridiculous and something that will cost the state long term.”
She wondered if one of Greenwood Village’s motives with the new law is to ensure it captures more of the lodging tax that cannot be collected on guests staying 30 days or longer.
Jolynn Snyder, executive director of homeless advocacy group Family Promise of Greater Denver, said those who often end up at hotels are working families who can’t afford a two-month deposit that goes along with renting an apartment.
“Sometimes we have a certain perception of the homeless, but these are families that are struggling,” Snyder said. “If you are going to shut that resource, what are you going to provide in terms of other resources?”
Haas Davidson, the city attorney, said Greenwood Village officials met last week with folks from the Arapahoe County Housing and Community Development Services Division to see what might be done to help those forced to leave the city’s hotels.
“We want to provide efficient and effective services, and right now we are working with the city of Greenwood Village to put our citizens first,” county spokeswoman Yvette Yeon said. “Arapahoe County is always committed to building a strong and safe community by providing a unique array of ‘safety net’ and other services that assist citizens in need.”
John Aguilar: 303-954-1695, jaguilar@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold