Wagon Wheel ordered to vacate

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

The Wagon Wheel Motel, which has long drawn community ire, has been ordered to vacate.

A temporary restraining order issued Friday gives owners until noon today to vacate the premises.

The Boardman Fire Department inspected the property Friday morning after Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Durkin gave the owners 24 hours to make necessary repairs.

Fire Chief Mark Pitzer requested a restraining order after the owners did not correct issues identified in a March 28 inspection.

By Friday morning, “They had completed very little work on the temporary roof repairs,” said Pitzer.

Also, he said the electrician the owners hired was not certified.

An attorney representing the Wagon Wheel will be available to comment Tuesday, said a man who answered a Vindicator call there on Friday afternoon.

A hearing June 6 before Judge John Durkin will determine whether to make the restraining order permanent and revoke the property’s occupancy permit.

Separately, township trustees also declared the property a nuisance May 13.

Trustees can move forward with demolition if the owners do not correct safety issues in 30 days.

“Our ultimate concern is the safety of the people that go on the property,” said Trustee Brad Calhoun. That includes the people that stay there, the people employed there and the safety services personnel that could respond to a potential emergency there, he said.

An appeal hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday before the township trustees.

In addition to the motel’s structural risks, the property has been the site of criminal activity. In 2018, police responded to 121 calls to the Wagon Wheel, ranging from complaints of bed bug infestations to reports of drug overdose deaths.

According to the Mahoning County Auditor’s website, Akm and Nasrin Rahman acquired the Wagon Wheel Motel in 2003.

In January, the family that runs the motel said Chirag Patel purchased the Wagon Wheel in 2014. Ken Patel, Chirag’s father, said then that he and his son do their best to dispel criminal activity.