The rear part of the motel that is to be demolished is dilapidated and has been abandoned for many years.
The closed motel on Point Drive West in Dunkirk is set to get torn down after a Common Council vote Tuesday.
The council voted unanimously to uphold Code Enforcement Officer Glenn Christner’s order to demolish the structure, which is behind the Dunkirk Motel. The building’s owners appealed Christner’s decision, earning them a Common Council hearing held at Tuesday’s meeting.
A taste of the council’s mood toward the long-closed, dilapidated former motel came early in the meeting. City Attorney Elliott Raimondo said the owner’s lawyer wouldn’t be there until 6 p.m. and suggested holding back on the hearing until then. Multiple “Nos” echoed back from the council.
The council did its public comments session first, which included words from Dunkirk Motel neighbor Patricia Mleczko. She said she was speaking for other residents of the neighborhood.
“I think one of our main concerns is, we have an extremely elderly neighborhood. These people would not know what to do if something arose on their property. Many of them are widows,” she said.
Evidently referring to Dunkirk Motel residents, she continued, “These people live in a 2 by 4 box. They are not managed with their medicine, they have no means for food. I know they can’t help themselves, they do need help. We just feel that in a residential neighborhood without supervision, is not the best place.”
Christner emphasized that the property up for a vote Tuesday was not the Dunkirk Motel, but a separately owned entity.