A Riverside Superior court judge has granted the city’s request for an appointed receiver to take control of a motel that has been the site of dozens of criminal acts and code violations, officials announced Wednesday.
Years of “narcotic, criminal and nuisance activity” at the Riverside Inn & Suites, 10705 Magnolia Ave., near Polk Street in the La Sierra neighborhood, “presents an ongoing danger to the occupants, surrounding community, and general public,” Deputy City Attorney Jacob Castrejon wrote in court papers.
If a receiver does not take over management of the property and oversee its rehabilitation, “the extremely unsafe criminal and substandard conditions will continue,” Castrejon argued. “The appointment of a receiver is necessary to prevent harm to the public both in the surrounding community and the city at large.”
Offenses documented at the motel over the years include drug possession, sale and usage, as well as assaults, prostitution, drug overdoses, assault and battery, including on a police officer, weapons violations, attempted murder, rape and sexual assault, child endangerment and other crimes.
“This property is well-known to law enforcement on the West End of our city, I am gratified to see two years of work result in the granting of a receivership that will begin turning this property around,” City Councilman Jim Perry said in a statement.
Perry has called for law enforcement efforts at the Riverside Inn and four other motels along the Magnolia corridor.
“This is just the beginning,” Perry said in a video posted online. “We’ve warned these properties, we’ve told them, ‘Clean up your act. If you don’t clean up your act, the city will do it for you and if the city does it for you, you’re not going to like it.”
Numerous people found loitering at the Riverside Inn have turned out to be on probation, on post-release community supervision, have outstanding felony warrants and/or with known histories involving narcotics, officials said.
One person at the motel who authorities said admitted buying fentanyl in one of the motel rooms called the property “the drug capital of the world.” The unnamed individual said a person at the inn was known to sell fentanyl to city residents experiencing homelessness, officials said citing court filings.
Officials also noted that records show code violations at the motel have gone unfixed, including building and safety violations, a lack of structural maintenance, substandard conditions, unpermitted construction, mold growth, cockroach infestation along with plumbing, fire and electrical violations. Code enforcement officers during the past 18 months found that very few, if any repairs were being made, according to the city.
“The failure of the Defendants to properly maintain the Subject Property has resulted in an unceasing flow of criminal activity at the motel and within its rooms as well,” Castrejon wrote. “The Defendants’ failure has also resulted in a lack of structure maintenance, substandard facility conditions, unpermitted construction and/or modifications, feces and urine throughout the area.”
Following the court ruling on June 25, a receiver is now set to take full control of the motel property — manage it, pay the expenses of the operation, including taxes, insurance, utilities, general maintenance and debt secured by an interest in the property. The receiver also will hire contractors to repair the property’s structural deficiencies.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the receivership would take effect.
The city’s video announcing the receivership is on the internet at youtube.com/watch?v=N2uhcE1ry7Y.
