College Park motel shut down for violations including stripper poles in rooms

College Park motel shut down due by health officials

Mold, exposed wires, and broken smoke detectors were just some of the infractions found at a College Park motel. The Howard Johnson on Old National Highway near Interstate 85 is also known as "Motel Nine". Conditions were so bad the health board recently shut it down and they say the owner did not have a proper license.

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - The Fulton County Board of Health has shut down a motel officials say is in such deplorable conditions some of their workers could not even go inside some of the units.

College Park Police say inspectors found black mold, exposed wires, and broken smoke detectors in rooms throughout Howard Johnson, also known as Motel-IX, located on Old National Highway near Interstate 85.

Police say the owner did not have a proper license.

"I can believe all of it," said resident Denine Brand. She says she had to force management just to get them to provide the necessities. "I had no water. They had pipes that bust and I had no water. It took for me to call code enforcement to get them to move to another room with working water and working heat."

Police say health inspectors found scores of violations, including mold in bathrooms and air-conditioning units, exposed wires, broken or nonexistent smoke detectors. Police say there was so much black mold in some units that workers could not go inside.

"It’s horrible because people are only here because they have to be, not because they want to be," Brand said.

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The Fulton County Board of Health shut down a College Park motel after finding black mold, exposed wires, and broken smoke detectors among other violations. (FOX 5)

Investigators say the owners operated the business without a proper license. "If you’re going to own a business, you should at least take care of it," Brand said.

Police say they found stripper poles inside the units they could enter. Brand lives at the motel with four young kids. "Children shouldn’t know anything about that. I don’t know how they could get away with putting poles in the rooms," Brand said.

The Fulton County Board of Health gave the few families who remain until April 27 to move. Brand is forced to scramble to find another place to live.

"We don’t have anywhere to go. How can you come here and close the place and not give us more time than you give us?" Brand asked.