Bartow County Sets Time Limit On Extended Stay Motel Guests

CARTERSVILLE, GA — In October, the Budgetel Inn off Carson Loop closed abruptly leaving about 100 people with no place to go.

There had been numerous drug arrests there and the owner was cited with 11 code violations. One resident said they had been living there for three years.

The Bartow County Commissioners recently passed an ordinance to rein in extended stay establishments in hopes of better regulating them.

“The purpose of this ordinance is to ensure the continued availability of quality, transient extended stay lodging within Bartow County and to protect the health, safety and welfare of inhabitants,” the ordinance reads, according to the The Daily-Tribune News.

The ordinance lists dozens of new regulations about mandatory room amenities, record keeping and length of stay. No one can stay more than 120 consecutive days.

There are exemptions for family members with loved ones in medical facilities for long periods or those there for work. Any motel or hotel that provides rooms for more than 14 days must pay the county $500.

The conditions at the Bugetel "made us realize our ordinances needed some amendment, where these hotels are sort of devolving into extended-stay without getting any approval from community development or the zoning administrator,” Bartow County Administrator Peter Olson said according to The Daily-Tribune-News. “This is a regulation to put some standards on what you’ve got to have and do to be an extended stay hotel.”

The ordinance limits the maximum capacity of any room with less than 300 square feet of floor space to two occupants. For rooms that are larger than 300 square feet, one additional occupant is allowed for every additional 75 feet of floor space.

“We don’t feel like we need to cram five, six people into a 100-square-foot room,” said Bartow County Zoning Administrator Brandon Johnson.

The Budgetel issue was not an issue that the county went out looking for, Johnson said according to the Daily Tribune-News. "It came to us." The drug task force reported adverse conditions to county officials, Johnson said.

The ordinance also bars children in the local school system from residing in extended stay motels.

“The proof of registration of children in area schools using the address of the facility shall result in termination of guest stay, even if within an extended stay facility,” the ordinance reads.

Johnson said the operators of the Budgetel Inn have said they hope to reopen next years.

“They have done a lot of work out there, but I think there’s still a lot of work that has to be done,” Johnson said. “Their contractor has been in contact with our office, and the health department is involved in that, as well.”