Beverly Motel shut down for 30 days
The 17-room motel, located at 44th Street and 118th Avenue, was closed under the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods, or SCAN, Act.
SCAN legislation exists in several provinces and allows police to investigate and close derelict or problem properties and hold property owners accountable for criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, prostitution and gang activity, that go on in their buildings.
In Alberta, where SCAN legislation went into effect in 2008, the SCAN Act is enforced by a unit of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT).
Close to 800 complaints have been made about the Beverly since May 1996, according to the SCAN unit.
"The community surrounding this hotel has witnessed numerous complaints of drugs, drug trafficking, prostitution, all within this hotel and around the surrounding area," said Chip Sawchuk, acting manager of the SCAN unit.
During the investigation, police sent a warning letter to the motel's owners. The activity continued so police obtained a community safety order.
A chain link fence bearing a notice of the closure has been put up around the property.
"There's no evidence at all that the owners were involved in any of these activities," Sawchuk said. "But what was happening is the owners were turning a blind eye ... and they weren't prepared to keep these type of clients and these people out of the motel.".
Rahim Jivraj's family has owned the Beverly Motel for 15 years. He didn't want to comment on the allegations made by police.
Residents welcome closure
News of the closure came as welcome news to Hilda Ewanek, who has lived in her house close to 118th Avenue for 50 years.
"I hope it cleans the area up," she said.
There weren't prostitutes in the area when Ewanek first moved there with her husband, but the situation changed about 10 to 15 years ago.
"The prostitutes had gotten so bad that they were walking down the middle of the street, where there was children going to school and from school," Ewanek said. "She had no clothes underneath. She was flashing people driving down the street."
Another area resident, Roxanne Chysyk, said the closure, while temporary, is long overdue.
"I bet it cuts down on all [the] drugs and prostitution," she said.
Under the order, the owners must complete renovations to bring the property up to provincial standards, require a credit card deposit and government photo ID for rooms and keep an accurate guest registry.
If the conditions are not met, the SCAN unit could apply to the courts to close the motel for 90 days.
With files from the CBC's Trisha Estabrooks and Min Dhariwal