Carson City's Frontier Motel regains business license, to reopen with multiple conditions in place
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Fri, 10/20/2023 - 4:30pm
Carson City Supervisors vote to reinstate business license for the Frontier Motel under the legal name of Five Star Motel LLC., doing business as the Royal Inn Motel.
Supervisors revoked the business license in 2021 after the motel was shut down by the Carson City Health Department due to a number of health code violations, as well as frequent visits from law enforcement.
Rooms were infested with mice, rodent fecal matter, bedbugs, structural failures, unpermitted construction, exposed electrical wires, rooms without hot water or locks on the doors, broken windows, and general debris and trash within rooms.
At the time of the closure, Sheriff Ken Furlong also informed Supervisors that there had been a marked increase of deaths at the motel due to drug overdoses and suicide according to the Coroner’s Office, in addition to frequent drug crimes, thefts, and more.
Tenants, including many who had lived in the motel for several years, were forced to leave with only a few day’s notice due to the uninhabitable conditions. Many of those who were evicted became homeless.
Over the past two and a half years, a number of building permits have been secured for the property, and work on both the interior of the rooms as well as exterior structures have been completed.
“The building permits that have been pursued for the last two and a half years are for a motel — they are not for an apartment,” Carson City Community Development Director Hope Sullivan said. “This use is a motel, and it needs to function as a motel and not as an apartment complex. With that said, the conditions have been met.”
Several conditions were added to the business license, including the need for department reviews every six months through a term of 18 months.
In addition, the motel must provide house keeping, beds, laundry service, and other operating conditions consistent with a motel.
Harry Handa, the representative of the motel, attended the meeting and agreed to all proposed conditions.
“We learned the hard way,” Handa said. “Weekly we’re going to clean out (rooms) and there is no storage (for customers), and no cooking. That’s the best way.”
Handa plans to reopen soon now that the business license has been restored.
The vote to reinstate the business license was unanimous.
