Capri checking out?

Lynbrook board seeks to oust motel, citing recent drug, prostitution arrests

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The Lynbrook village board is fighting to close a local motel that trustees say is home to criminal activity, including the use and dealing of drugs as well as prostitution.

At the March 16 board meeting, Lynbrook Mayor William Hendrick denounced the Capri Motor Inn, at 5 Freer St. in Lynbrook. The motel, which opened in 1960, was the site of the village’s most recent fatal heroin overdose — and Hendrick said the time has come for something new at that address.

“There is a business in our village that has been here for a long time, and it absolutely disgusts me that it is still here,” he said of the motel. “We would like to see the complex torn down and rebuilt as a new hotel or an apartment complex.”

The Herald has reported on a number of criminal arrests at the Capri, including prostitution (in each of the past four years, and six in 2013 alone), criminal possession of controlled substances, false impersonation, criminal possession of stolen property, assault, possession of fireworks, and robbery.

The process of ridding the community of the motel won’t be an easy one, however. Village officials began working on it in 2009. But Village Attorney Peter Ledwith said that despite the motel’s sordid recent history, the board only has a few options when it comes to shutting it down.

First, Ledwith said, if the village can prove that the business is an instrument of crime, the motel could lose its license and be forced to close. The village must show a criminal trend there, however. “They had to be licensed when the business opened,” he said. “It’s a strict process, and if the business meets the criteria, it gets a license. Now that they have it, the village would have to show multiple felonies have been committed that led to a pattern at the motel — but that isn’t an easy burden to prove.”

The village can also buy the property under eminent domain laws, but, according to Jack Libbert, an attorney who has assisted in the effort to close the motel, that could prove too costly. “If the village condemns and attempts to acquire the property, an appraiser would be sent in to determine the value of the motel,” Libbert explained. “However, a judge could rule that the property is worth millions more that the appraiser valued it at, and the village would be forced to pay that difference.” He cited a recent example in Long Beach, where a judge ruled that the city must pay $5 million to the owners of a seized property, in addition to a $3 million payment made after the initial valuation.

Finally, the Capri could be closed if it is found to be in violation of a civil law passed in January 2014. Under the new code, the motel would lose its license if three violations of certain criminal laws, such as prostitution or the possession of weapons or controlled substances, occurred within a three-month period.

“The new civil law requires the owners to supervise the conduct of their guests,” Ledwith said. “Each time the police are called to the motel and an arrest is made, a letter is sent to the owners explaining that this is the first, second or third incident to occur in a three-month period. It will clearly spell out what’s being charged and what the consequences are.”

Harry Wagner, the motel’s general manager, said he was aware of the accusations leveled against it, and that work is being done to repair its reputation. “Most of the criminal activity that everyone talks about happened years ago,” he said. “At the village’s request, we put in a security guard, and since then we’ve had no arrests for criminal activity. We’re trying to do what we can to help the police.”

There are currently three groups looking to purchase the property, demolish the motel and replace it with something else, Hendrick said. Although he offered no details, saying that negotiations are ongoing, he did add that two of the three entities intend to build apartment complexes, while the other would build a new motel.

In the meantime, Hendrick said, he and the board are determined to get the Capri out of the village. “We’re going to work hard on this,” he said. “We’re looking at condemning the building, and we’ll keep focusing on trying to get their license revoked.”