City puts 'nuisance' label on motel

It's just one of dozens of low-budget motels along East Hillsborough Avenue.

But Tampa police say that for more than a decade the Luxury Motel at 4608 E. Hillsborough Ave. has been a magnet for drug dealing, prostitution and other criminal activity, including two standoffs with law enforcement officers that ended with gunfire.

In 2000, the motel was sold to Charles and Ella Grubbs, but police say drug dealers and prostitutes still use the property.

So after building a case against the owners for more than a year, the police department took them before the city's seldom-used Public Nuisance Abatement Board.

On Tuesday, the board declared the property a public nuisance and ordered the owners to hire private security officers and install 24-hour security cameras on the premises.

The owners have 60 days to comply or will face $250 a day fine.

City law allows the quasi-judicial board to declare a business a nuisance if it has been the site of two or more illegal drug sales within six months. The law also allows the board to take actions - fines, closure and other sanctions - to alleviate the problem.

Several undercover police officers and detectives testified to a long list of documented drug buys and prostitution stings that involved people operating out of the motel.

"These are not isolated incidents," David Shobes, an assistant city attorney who is prosecuting the case, told the board members. "This property has been known to local law enforcement officials for years as a place to buy drugs and sex."

The Grubbses did not appear for Tuesday's hearing and could not be reached for comment.

The motel recently was shut down by code enforcement officials for a litany of violations that must be resolved for it to reopen. Despite that, police say the criminal activity has continued.

This isn't the first time the city has had problems with the property.

In 1996, the board closed Luxury Motel for one year because of complaints. The owners sued the city for more than $15,000 in damages, arguing that they had been "deprived of all economic use of the property." The suit was dismissed by a Hillsborough County circuit judge five years after it was filed.

Tampa police twice shot and killed men in standoffs at the motel, once in 1996 and once in 2005.

City officials say the situation hasn't changed much under new management.

From 2008 through March, undercover police have charged several people with selling crack cocaine at the property, records show.

The hotel case has been the first to go before the seven-member volunteer board since city officials resurrected it a year ago. It is being viewed as a test of the board's regulatory power.

The board was created in 1990 and was active for a decade before being disbanded because of a lack of cases. The city brought the board back to life in 2008, but a year passed without a hearing.

In March, the city merged the nuisance abatement board with the code enforcement board.

One of the group's main functions is to hear cases about properties with a history of drug sales, gangs, prostitution and dealing in stolen property.

A major roadblock is the threat of litigation over property rights issues.

A 2001 Florida Supreme Court ruling limited when nuisance abatement boards may close businesses to instances where illegal action is intertwined with the business.