Pasco motel owner seeks permit to allow long-term tenants

The owner of a downtown Pasco motel believes converting 10 rooms to long-term rentals will help draw “good people” who might develop a relationship with management.

Song Hwang acknowledged to city officials he has a better chance of getting to know the character of a patron staying at the Thunderbird Motel for more than just a couple of days.

In turn, the city could see a reduction in the number of police calls to the motel and an improvement in the 414 W. Columbia St. property’s reputation and appearance, if on-site management can build a relationship with customers.

City staff and a majority of Pasco Planning Commission members are not in favor of allowing long-term tenants at the Thunderbird, even though they recognize there are people who already call the motel home.

Hwang is trying to come into compliance with the Pasco Municipal Code by requesting a special permit for long-term tenants, according to documents included in a city report. He said about five to 10 of the his 42 rooms are used long term.

The permit would let him rent several rooms on the second and third floors for more than 30 days at a time, while the ground level rooms would remain motel use only.

The issue will be discussed today by the Pasco City Council. The 7 p.m. meeting is at City Hall, 525 N. Third Ave.

A resolution was drafted proposing a denial of Hwang’s permit application.

“The intent of allowing special permits for residential uses on upper floors of commercial buildings is to add ‘eyes on the street’ security to the retail functionality of the downtown,” says the proposed resolution. “Given the nuisance record of this facility, the evidence suggests that the intent of the mixed-use commercial/residential to reduce or eliminate criminal activity in the downtown area would not be met with the requested special permit for this property.”

The staff report provided to the planning commission and the city council shows there have been eight code enforcement cases for the Thunderbird Motel, dealing with 57 violations from 2009-16. Of the violations, 38 occurred in the past year.

The report shows that in a five-year period, there were a total 1,405 police calls to the property. A good number of the calls were for trespassing, disorderly conduct, narcotics and warrants to be served.

Hwang told the planning commission at a November hearing that most of his guests are low income. He added that the homeless people sleep behind his building and use the motel as their address, which often drives up the number of police reports attributed to the Thunderbird.

The motel was built in 1965 as a stopover for travelers because the Lewis Street corridor used to be a main thoroughfare. It changed after the highway system was built around the city.

It is zoned for Pasco’s Central Business District, which includes office, retail, entertainment and motel uses. The Tri-City Union Gospel Mission’s new men’s facility is under construction to the south of the motel.

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Pasco motel owner seeks permit to allow long-term tenants."