Tuscaloosa City Council Revokes Business License of Former Motel 6

The former Motel 6 located on McFarland Boulevard off of Interstate 20/59 is no longer legally allowed to operate after the City of Tuscaloosa unanimously voted to permanently revoke its business license at Tuesday night's city council meeting.

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As previously reported by the Tuscaloosa Thread, the revocation vote was initially set for June 14's city council meeting, however the council voted to table the decision until Tuesday's meeting. 

According to the city, CT Hotels, LLC, operated for years as a Motel 6, but lost their franchise rights in November and is not affiliated with the national brand any more. The motel does not bare any Motel 6 branding on the building or its signs and has been doing business under a different name.

The resolution from June 14 stated the hotel had a number of extensive issues and code violations that made almost all the rooms in the motel unsuited for occupancy.

Many rooms had mold, water leaks, unclean mattresses and padlocks on the exterior of doors that were deemed unsafe for usage.

The hotel also was the center of many criminal activities, as the city reported 695 police responses to the motel between May 2019 and February 2022.

Witnesses from Tuscaloosa Police Department, the Tuscaloosa Fire Department's fire marshal and the Tuscaloosa County Health Department were present at the meeting to provide statements of the various conditions and violations from several inspections that were conducted. To date, many of the violations had not been resolved by the owners.

Brent Blankley, chief of the Tuscaloosa Police Department, said the hotel failed to invest in changes for the betterment of the property for two years.

"We want the city to be as clean as possible and safe as possible so I recommend the revocation of the business license," Blankley said.

Attorney Cam Parsons, who represented the hotel on behalf of the company, said the owners are willing to invest in fixing the problems and had been given a building permit to begin repairs. He also stated the owners were unaware of of the various criminal activities that were taking place on the property and had even terminated a former employee who had been found to be involved with illegal drug activities.

Parsons recommended the owners be given a second chance to right the wrongs, however District 7 Councilman Cassius Lanier said the current owners were "reactive instead of proactive" in preventing crime and running a clean business in his district and recommended the revocation of the business.

"You can't come and be a slumlord, you cant come and be a crime lord and think you're going to get away with it. If we let you keep your license, it sends the message that you can run your business and get a slap on the wrist with probation. I wasn't given probation and I'm not giving probation," Lanier said.

The council voted unanimously to revoke the business license, which prevents the owner from being able to renew their license and criminalizes any further attempt to do business at the hotel.