A renovated Red Roof Inn hotel near I-20 in west Fulton County has remained empty since February, when the county refused to issue the owner an operating permit partly because of crime in the area, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
The suit, filed Tuesday by Dila LLC in Fulton County Superior Court, claims the county exceeded its authority in denying a “tourist accommodation” permit because it allowed its health department to make the decision.
John Christy, an attorney for Dila, said that while state law gives county health officials authority over health, sanitation and safety at hotels, it doesn’t give them authority to deny permits based on crime in an area or based on a hotel’s supervision of its employees, the reasons given for denying the Red Roof Inns permit.
“State law delegates limited authority to local jurisdictions,” Christy said Thursday. “It seems to me the the county would want to encourage development and redevelopment.”
A spokesman for the county didn’t immediately respond.
There are several hotels on the stretch of Fulton Industrial Boulevard near the proposed Red Roof Inn site, including a Fairview Inn, Travel Inn and Days Inn. The area near the I-20 interchange also is known for its bars and strip clubs.
According to the lawsuit, Dila bought the property at 4430 Frederick Drive SW near the intersection of Fulton Industrial last December for about $1.1 million and signed a $50,000 long-term deal with Red Roof Inns for the hotel to carry its name.
Dila said it paid $50,484 in property taxes and obtained a $958,000 loan to renovate the property as a hotel. The $200,000 spent on renovations so far included repainting the property, installing new carpet, furniture, televisions, lighting and a range of security measures, including cameras, to Red Roof Inns’ standards.
Dila said the county health department refused to issue a permit because of a high frequency of police calls to the area and because the county said the company failed to supervise and monitor its employees and others on the property.
A hearing earlier this month did not resolve the dispute, Christy said. Dila said it now faces foreclosure on its $958,000 loan.
The defendants named in the suit are the county and Patricia Harris, director of the Fulton County Department of Health Services.
The suit says the county has “embarked on intentional actions in an effort to prevent Plaintiff from operating the Hotel, while at the same time demanding that Plaintiff spend (as it has) thousands of dollars to repair and improve the Hotel.”
Aside from not having authority to issue the permit, Dila said the county has provided no evidence of a high incidence of police calls to the area or that Dila hasn’t adequately supervised employees and others at the property.
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