Glen Ellyn tightens hotel regulations
New rules regulating hotels are now in place in Glen Ellyn as part of an effort, village officials say, to crack down on code violations and occasional crime.
The licensing rules, adopted unanimously Monday by the village board, will require the two hotels within village boundaries to pay an annual $1,500 fee that would cover a portion of the cost of yearly village inspections of common areas and rooms.
The regulations also limit the amount of time for extended-stay guests. Those in extended stay units will be able to remain in their rooms for up to one year in any two-year period, and those in so-called transient units would be allowed to stay for a maximum of 60 days in any six-month period.
The new rules will affect the Crowne Plaza, a four-story, 120-room hotel at 1250 Roosevelt Road, and America’s Best Inn/Budgetel Inn & Suites, a complex of five, 2-story buildings with 120 rooms at 675 Roosevelt Road.
A village report cited a “significant” number of complaint calls from guests at Budgetel, including bedbug infestations, unsanitary conditions, and water and heat problems.
Police have also said they’ve received a number of calls about “nuisances and illegal activities” there, including prostitution, drugs, noise complaints and reports of suspicious people.
Kam Sheth, owner and general manager of America’s Best Inn/Budgetel Inn & Suites, said he was satisfied with the resulting ordinance, even though village officials didn’t make all changes to it that he requested:
Ÿ He had asked the inspection fee to be $1,000 or less, but it will remain at $1,500;
Ÿ He requested the passing level of inspections to be 80 percent, but it will be 100 percent;
Ÿ And he wanted eight motel workers to be able to live on site, but that won’t be allowed under the ordinance, said Staci Hulseberg, the village’s director of planning and development.
Sheth had also asked for a grace period of six months before initial inspections to make improvements to the property, and the village agreed to give him four months, Hulseberg said.
Village officials did agree to adjust the maximum length of transient unit stay to 60 days in a six-month period instead of 30 days, in order to accommodate construction workers.
Officials with F&F Realty, the property manager of Crowne Plaza, previously said they were supportive of the ordinance.
Hulseberg said inspections of Crowne Plaza are scheduled for December and Budgetel in January.