CHARLOTTE — Residents at the Lamplighter Inn motel in northwest Charlotte must leave by Dec. 11 and city leaders are trying to navigate them during the difficult time.
[ PAST COVERAGE: Tenants at motel with unsafe conditions must leave soon; city offers help ]
“We’ve been put in a tight crunch,” said Councilwoman Tiawana Brown, who represents District 3 and is on the Safety and Housing Committee. “We have to step up and make it happen.”
The city announced on Friday that the motel will close due to poor living conditions.
“We have to try to find a placement for all of the beautiful families that are here,” said Brown.
City officials said the property owner disconnected the utilities and failed to maintain the site leading to 21 open code enforcement cases. Seven of those cases are in the civil penalty process.
“It’s a challenge for me that the private owners would do this,” Brown said. “Now, the city has stepped up in a major way.”
The city and nonprofit organizations are working to move 68 tenants to other hotels by the deadline.
Tenants must pay to stay at their new hotel if they can afford it.
For those who can’t, they will receive financial assistance through Crisis Assistance Ministry.
“These are not individuals that you know are just hopeless or down and out. These are individuals that were brought into a situation and thought it was going to help,” said Apryl Lewis, community advocate for tenants.
Lewis has held weekly meetings at the motel to guide tenants and by doing that, she said she’s thought of a possible long-term solution.
“I’m hoping that the stabilization center, with supportive housing that is built by the community and is actually supported by the community, would actually come from this terrible situation,” Lewis said.
The property owners told Channel 9 they were left with no choice but to sell the motel due to financial problems.
VIDEO: Motel tenants being pushed out because of deplorable conditions
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