CAMDEN, S.C. — Camden City Council voted on Tuesday, April 12th to pass an ordinance to close the Deluxe Inn and Mona Lisa Motel in Camden.
Resident, Christy Coop shared her reaction to the news, "the best news I've heard for months". Adding, "I've been here my whole life and it's an eyesore".
City planner, Sean Putnam agrees the decision was needed to better the city. "The reason was the significant amount of police incidents that occurred at those two locations, when you look at we reviewed five years of historical crime data and determined we had four to five-time the number for calls to service at those two locations as we had all the other hotels in the city".
With a large amount of crime spawning from both locations Putnam added, "significant numbers of drug charges have been made, there have been a couple of murders at each of the hotels, lots of underage alcohol use, domestic violence, property crime, so we made a decision, the council made a decision that something needed to be done".
Putnam added they have some time to get out, "we set a deadline for July 31st, 2024 and after that point and time the hotels either need to cease operations or convert to another use in that zoning district,"
The closure of both motels lets residents like Shamekkico Weathers feel more comfortable on her commute to and from work, "I moved down here a year ago, and the stuff I have seen come from over there I'll be glad that it's gone,".