Motel Stays Limited

Wildwood limits stays in motels
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Thursday, December 15, 2005

Updated: Thursday, December 15, 2005WILDWOOD-Stanley Hatch and Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. graduated from Wildwood High School in 1969, but after school, their lives took different paths.And so on Wednesday, Troiano found himself reassuring Hatch that his former classmate would not find himself living in the city's streets.Troiano and fellow Commissioners Kathy Breuss and Fred Wager passed an ordinance Wednesday that limits the length of hotel and motel stays in town to 30 days. Hatch, a cook by trade, lives in a motel."After 30 days, what are you supposed to do," Hatch asked the mayor. "You're going to have people out here homeless in the street now."Troiano told his old friend the city had no intention of making people homeless, least of all Hatch. "We're not going to put you in the street," Troiano said.Instead, Troiano said the city's intent is to get people out of substandard housing into safe, clean accommodations in the form of a Cape May County shelter for the homeless or for people who simply cannot afford the high rents that dominate the county.Troiano, a volunteer fireman, said many of the motels that are open in the off-season are not equipped to serve as long-term housing. They lack heat, adequate living space, cooking facilities and other necessities, and many of the buildings are not up to code nor permitted to operate as long-term residential facilities, he said."I don't want to see anybody burned up in a motel room," Troiano said.Troiano said he wants motel owners to come to the city, comply with its laws and provide livable housing. "This is a safety issue," he said.In addition, Troiano said every other county in New Jersey has a homeless shelter except Cape May County, and the ordinance should serve as a wake-up call to the county's Board of Freeholders that Wildwood will no longer bear the county's burden.But many asked what are the working poor supposed to do in the meantime.Minister James Hatch of Eureka Baptist Church challenged the legality of the 30-day limit on constitutional grounds. He said it infringes on an individual's right to move about freely as long as they have the ability to pay."I'm here as a voice for the poor people," said Connie Meyer, owner of the Blue Heron Motel, which is open long past the end of summer.Meyer said her 36-unit motel, which is scheduled to be replaced by residential condominiums, currently houses people with no place else to go. Many of the rooms have heat and other amenities, she said."A small place is better than under the Boardwalk," Meyer said.She said she has heard from a number of people worried about what the ordinance will mean to them. They believe, she said, "Wildwood is driving (the poor) out."Hatch pointed to the island's building boom that has shut down once-affordable rooming houses and created extravagant condominium multi-plexes with high rents."We cannot afford this. If I'm making $8 an hour, I can't afford $1,300 a month," Hatch said.Hatch added that a disproportionate number of people who live in the city's motels are black or Hispanic. Hatch said many are wondering, "Is this an issue where you're trying to push the black people out?"Troiano, who fondly recalled spending time with Hatch as a youth, said he has never made a decision based on skin color or ethnicity. "I don't care what color your skin is," he said.Troiano said the city has hired a housing expert to find ways to rehabilitate homes to provide housing for working families.At the close of the meeting, Troiano, Breuss and Wager voted to send a resolution to every municipality in the county asking them to join Wildwood in urging the county to build housing to help the county's poorest residents.

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