City says it won’t cite owners of Boise motel shut down for ‘disgusting’ conditions
The city of Boise says it has no plans to cite the owners of a local motel that was shut down for subjecting its occupants to “disgusting” living conditions.
Boise inspectors ordered the Travelers Motel at 5620 W. Fairview Ave. to close after they visited several times in July and found the property in disrepair and its units badly deteriorated. About 30 people were displaced, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.
City leaders could issue the business a misdemeanor citation but likely won’t, according to Maria Weeg, a spokesperson for Mayor Lauren McLean.
“I suspect the cost to fix the property will be a substantial penalty that would likely exceed the penalty associated with the misdemeanor,” Weeg told the Statesman by email.
Inspectors with the city’s Fire Prevention Division conducted a fire and life safety inspection in April 2022, but didn’t take action until a local business complained in June about debris, broken-down cars and dilapidated buildings on the nearby property.
Some of the units had rotted-out floors, no running water, black mold and no smoke detectors, according to Fire Marshal Mike Bisagno. One unit had a broken pipe that left raw sewage on the floor.
A few of the occupants had been living there long-term, said Jodi Peterson-Stigers, director of Interfaith Sanctuary, a Boise homeless shelter.
Peterson-Stigers visited the motel to offer the residents assistance as part of Our Path Home, a partnership between the city and organizations that help the homeless population. She spoke with several people who lived there, including a family of four that had been there for years.
“It’s disgusting,” Peterson-Stigers told the Statesman by phone. “There’s no floors in the bathrooms. There’s mold and swollen walls from the moisture that’s inside them. That doesn’t happen in just a few weeks.”
When a Statesman reporter visited the property on Wednesday, the office had a closed sign, but an older woman and man answered the doorbell. The woman said they planned to fix and reopen the motel. She declined to identify herself but referred to the motel as her property.
Ada County records show the motel is owned by Title Honey LLC. The company was formed in 2015 with Honey and Beena Patel listed as members, according to records filed with the Idaho Secretary of State’s Office. The business has been listed as inactive since 2020, when it did not file an annual report.
Statesman reporter Noble Brigham contributed.
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