Fate of Serena Inn on hold
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 27, 2017 5:50 AM
The fate of the Serena Inn is on hold after a court session Monday delayed taking any action on a temporary restraining order filed against the business.
The order was filed by the city on Sept. 15, which barred the motel from renting out rooms to any new patrons but allowed the people who were already there to stay.
After Monday's court session, this temporary order is extended until Friday at 5 p.m.
Action on the order was stalled after attorney Ron Lawrence, who was representing the city, informed Superior Court Judge Will Bland that he and defense attorney Gordon Woodruff had reached a potential settlement prior to court.
Lawrence said the only thing that needed to happen was fine-tuning some language in the document before it is agreed upon by both parties.
He went on to tell Bland that he felt the agreement would be ready to hand up to the court by Friday morning, when the two parties are scheduled to reconvene and settle the matter.
Woodruff told the court he felt this was enough time to finalize what he said he hopes will be a "permanent solution" to the issue.
"I have had a chance to look at your draft, which, of course, is just a draft, but I think that would be satisfactory to the court of you proceed along the lines that you are working toward," Bland told the attorneys.
Police said at the time the temporary restraining order was filed that it was brought against the business due to ongoing issues at the location.
Authorities said police were constantly called to the business, and the quality of life at the motel had not improved since it was forced to temporarily close in 2016 to bring the property up to code.