Two Lubbock hotels on Avenue Q might be forced to close depending on how far the city wants to go with legal action, spurred by hundreds of police calls.
The Lubbock City Council considered the idea behind closed doors in executive session last week according to the most recent council agenda, so not all the details are available, but no action has been taken.
Public records revealed:
- The city could use state law allowing local government to crack down on hotels and apartments “tolerating” criminal activity. We explain below.
- The two hotels are the Baymont Inn and Suites at 601 Avenue Q, and the Executive Inn at 4401 Avenue Q.
Owners of both hotels declined to comment when contacted by LubbockLights.com.
Police Chief Seth Herman talked about the situation, but not the two hotels.
“This is about public safety,” he said, emphasizing it’s not about singling out a business.
“The concern is always that a business is either willfully neglecting the needs of the public or the surrounding businesses,” Herman said, adding he’s not the first police chief who has talked to these hotels.
Between May 1, 2024 and February 20, police were called 309 times to the Baymont Inn and 435 times to the Executive Inn, according to information from the Lubbock Police Department requested by LubbockLights.com. That’s a little more than once a day for Baymont and a little less than a call-and-a-half every day for the Executive Inn.
Calls ranged from public intoxication to aggravated robbery, according to an email provided by police spokesperson Kasie Davis.
“Unfortunately, there are ripple effects for surrounding businesses and residents’ quality of life when this type of criminal activity occurs on a regular basis at any given place of business,” Davis said.
Herman hopes the threat of legal action will help.
“Hopefully it never comes to that. … The owners generally will take control of the situation because they don’t want to lose their business eventually,” Herman said.
How this would work
The council’s agenda mentioned the Texas Civil Practices Remedy Code Chapter 125.
It allows the city to sue hotels, apartments, condominiums and any other “property with at least three dwelling units” for money damages. But the city can also sue for a court order to stop tolerating certain crimes that are labeled as “nuisances.”
Davis said, “A few examples might be whether there is a continued presence of prostitution, gambling, engaging in organized criminal activity, aggravated assault/sexual assault, robbery, murder, gang activity, discharging of a firearm etc.”
The law not only applies to the owners, but if Lubbock wins and seeks a judgement against the property itself, a judge can order the hotels to close for one year.
The number of calls is one thing, she said.
“It is truly the severity of those calls,” Davis added.
“When these concerns by business owners, or residents, are brought to the attention of our department, the LPD is obligated to investigate the totality of the circumstances surrounding these calls for service. Legitimate concerns, combined with proven man hours spent by our officers, can be brought to our department at any time for closer investigation,” Davis said.
A “Nuisance Abatement Manual” from the office of Texas Attorney General gives local governments instructions.
The manual, published in 2011, said, “The purpose of a nuisance abatement lawsuit is not to show or prove that the property owner is guilty of illegal acts, but rather to prove that the property owner allowed the illegal activity to occur on the property or failed to make reasonable attempts to stop it.”
The state manual made the same suggestion as Herman; business owners might want to settle out-of-court.
“In many instances, actual litigation is not required. When faced with the loss of income from closure, bonds adding up to thousands of dollars and the threat of forfeiture of those bonds, many owners [address the problem],” the document said.
According to both the Lubbock County District Clerk’s office and a spokesperson for the city, Lacey Nobles, the city has not filed any lawsuits yet.
Mayor Mark McBrayer said, “Since those items came up in executive session, I can’t comment on them.”
Other members of the council said the same thing. The discussion behind closed doors needs to remain confidential.
Fix the broken windows
Police have talked to the businesses, Herman said.
“It’s been in person by more than one chief of police,” Herman said.
Not just the two hotels, but generally, if police think there’s a problem, the department will take notice of certain things.
“We’ll begin with the overall status of the property itself. So, it kind of goes back to that broken windows theory. Clean up the property, keep trash picked up, keep a good coat of paint on it – no broken windows literally as well as metaphorically speaking,” Herman said.
Lighting and fences need to be in good shape. Shrubbery should be trimmed. Junked vehicles are unacceptable.
“In a nutshell, improving not only the look of the location, but also how they do business,” Herman said.
“If we identify a location that continues to show an uncontrolled amount of egregious criminal activity that is obviously a safety concern to our citizens then we have to address it. And if we can’t do that through criminal enforcement of the perpetrators, then there’s a deeper issue and it has to do with the business and their practices,” Herman said.
In other words, businesses should not attract customers who might use the site for criminal activity.
“It’s not a threat towards anybody. … The purpose of it is to deal with an issue,” Herman said.
Speaking of the city as a whole, Herman said, “I think this is an opportunity for business owners to evaluate their practices. And they know whether they’re doing everything they should to protect their customers and be a good neighbor to the surrounding businesses.”
New – or has this happened before?
We asked Davis if this is part of a new or renewed effort to crackdown on criminal nuisance.
“There is no new specific initiative or renewed effort by the LPD to crack down on criminal nuisance. The safety of the citizens of Lubbock is the department’s continual focus,” she said.
The Villa Town at 5401 Avenue Q South Drive was shut down by the Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney, according to media reports in 2017. It later burned and was demolished.
Police made 165 arrests and responded to 1,516 calls at the Villa Town between January 1, 2015 and the date it was shut down – April 10, 2017.
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