For a long time now, the Courtesy Hotel, located on Hempstead Avenue in West Hempstead, has been in the sights of the West Hempstead Civic Association. The hotel is seen by many to be a hotbed of criminal activity and considered by some to be a blight on the community.

According to Inspector Frank Kirby, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Fifth Precinct, there have been numerous arrests in and around the Courtesy Hotel and its surrounding area for prostitution and drugs.

"We're working with both the town and the West Hempstead Civic Association to see if we can help remedy the problem. Obviously, in terms of the police department, this would be a good thing for us too to have that location closed," said Kirby.

As far back as 1995, the West Hempstead Civic Association formed a Committee to Close the Courtesy and while petitions to close the hotel have been circulated, meetings have been held and numerous arrests have been made, the Courtesy has remained open.

"That the Town of Hempstead should padlock the Courtesy is a forgone conclusion," said Seth Bykofsky, former president of the West Hempstead Civic Association who co-chaired the Committee to Close the Courtesy with Nick D'Alessandro. "The only thing standing between the town and the closure of the Courtesy is the supervisor's will to get the job done."

Civic leaders recently found out that there is a registered sex offender residing at the hotel. According to the sex offender registration, which can be found on parentsformeganslaw.com, there is a Level III sex offender who was convicted of raping a 9-year-old girl that has the address of the hotel listed as the residence.

Those lobbying the Town of Hempstead to close the Courtesy Hotel point to the town's public nuisance law, which was adopted in 2000. The town's law states that a premises is considered a public nuisance if two predicate arrests occur at the said building or structure within a 12 month period. West Hempstead civic leaders believe there have been enough arrests to warrant the hotel being closed.

The law states that "the town shall hereby be empowered to institute an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin further occupancy of the building or structure in question, for a period of up to three years from the date of the second predicate arrest, and shall be further empowered to seek a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction to remove such occupancy and secure the premises at the earliest possible time."

According to Charles Theofan, commissioner of the town's Department of Planning and Economic Development, the town had tried to close the Courtesy Hotel through its public nuisance law and, although the town once successfully obtained an order, it was reversed by the Appellate Division. Theofan said the town attorney is contemplating trying again.

Town officials though say they are proceeding with plans for the re-development of the property the Courtesy Hotel is on as well the surrounding properties. This past November, the town has requested qualifications from potential developers to develop the area the hotel is located in, a 10-acre parcel of land that has four different property owners, and has narrowed the list of potential developers to four, including Trammell Crow, the developer that was said to be in negotiations for the purchase of the hotel property.

"Right now, we are going to be starting our environmental study of the site, doing our appraisals and looking, by this July, to adopt our Urban Renewal Plan. Once we adopt our plan, we will then be selecting from those four [developers], one of them to be the designated developer and then entering into a development agreement. The whole concept is that the developer is going to pay for all the acquisition costs," Theofan said.

Once a developer is selected, the town board would grant authority to negotiate for the acquisition of the properties, and for those properties that cannot be acquired through negotiations, eminent domain proceedings would commence, Theofan added.

The four developers are seeking residential housing in the form of condos or dwellings with residential ownership. Three of the four developers including Trammell Crow are proposing a plan with some element of retail shops.

According to Town of Hempstead Spokesman Mike Deery, the developers are seeking 220 units on 2.7 acres. According to Theofan, the Urban Renewal Plan, which would change the current zoning for the area to allow for the development of the property, would be written with one of the developer's plans in mind.

According to Deery, the Urban Renewal Plan the town is developing would in no way interfere with any private transactions being brought before the town such as if Trammel Crow reached an agreement to purchase the hotel property.

This November, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray will be running for re-election. Closing the Courtesy by Election Day this November would be a boon for her campaign in West Hempstead.

According to Theofan, entering into a development agreement would take anywhere from four to eight weeks. In the most hopeful timeframe, ownership of the property could come as early as October if there is no legal challenging for the acquisition of the properties. Theofan said worst-case scenario would be January for taking ownership of the property.