SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Springfield Township hotel that police and prosecutors consider a "nuisance"— because of more than 1,000 police calls to the property— could remain open if trustees and a judge agree to a deal calling for multiple registration and security changes.
Earlier this month, Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich filed a lawsuit to have the Red Roof Inn on Arlington Road declared a public nuisance and shut down.
Police provided statistics to prosecutors showing officers have responded to the hotel more than 1,300 times over four years for a variety of crimes and multiple drug overdoses.
RELATED: More than 1,300 police calls to the same Springfield Township hotel in 4 years
"When you're looking at this hotel, you're looking at over 300 calls a year from overdoses to assault cases, stabbings, all these kinds of things," Kolkovich said.
Kolkovich believes it took a lawsuit to get the hotel's attention.
"There was no cooperation from Red Roof Inn beforehand, and now we've seen a great deal of cooperation," he said.
Kolkovich said the hotel's owner, Akron Hotel Suites LLC, has agreed to make several changes that, if enacted, would keep the prosecutor's office from trying to close down the business.
The deal requires guests renting rooms to be 21 years or older and to register credit cards.
It also requires installing and maintaining video cameras, locking rear and side doors and providing security guards from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
According to Springfield Township Police Chief Jack Simone, trustees are expected to pass the agreement at a meeting Thursday evening. If so, a judge would sign an order the next day.
The agreement indicates the hotel would be monitored for three years, and if there are reoccurring problems or crimes, the deal could go away, Kolkovich said.
"If they don't do what they're supposed to do, we're going to ask to shut it down again," he added.
Springfield Township resident Brian Smith, who has spoken out about crime, trash and noise concerns at the hotel, plans to voice his opposition to the proposed deal.
"What's it gonna take? A couple of dead bodies lying here? Honestly? And that's what we're coming to? No, it needs shut down," Smith said. "I'm not happy about it at all. It's putting a Band-Aid on a wound."
Smith isn't optimistic that meaningful change will happen at the Red Roof Inn.
"Nobody wants this place here, not anybody who lives out here," he said.
CLICK HERE to read the full abatement order.
