OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Osceola County leaders launched a new focused plan to revitalize the West Highway 192 corridor while helping families living in hotels find traditional long-term housing.
Kirit Patel bought the Continental Inn about a year and a half ago. He is one of the 70 hotel owners along this stretch of the West Highway 192 corridor, the target of Osceola County's new improvement plan.
"Everybody wants to improve their business and bring good business in the area." Patel said.
But over the years county leaders say they have had issues with this area, including a rise in crime and families living long term in the hotels. A new effort is underway to clean up the corridor.
"The idea is we'll go into the hotels, clean up the criminal activity, give them a report of the building issues they have to deal with and continue monitoring them to make sure that they're improving," Susan Caswell, Osceola County assistant community development administrator said.
Caswell says they are working with hotel owners to improve the conditions of the facilities. The West Highway 192 Authority Board is offering grants to improve hotel facades, as well as buy new signs. The new effort is also trying to remove the negative perception of staying in this area.
"Some of the reviews have stretched beyond to individual hotels to, 'Don't stay anywhere on this corridor,' which is really bad for the majority of the hotels, which are decent facilities," Caswell said.
Part of the effort includes moving people who some of the hotels along the highway home.
"While at the same time trying to set up programs that help find alternative housing for the people who live there," Caswell said.
It is a first of its kind coordinated effort between hotel owners and county leaders to make this stretch of the highway tourist friendly again.
Another option county leaders are considering is creating a nuisance abatement board which would have the authority to shut down hotels if there is an ongoing criminal problem. County leaders plan to send hotels information on the new plan and start the inspections with law and code enforcement within the next few months.