A group of homeless residents and their pets were turned out over the weekend after a hotel on Columbus’ Southeast Side was shut down due to crime and safety issues.
The Community Shelter Board had been paying the Loyalty Inn, 5910 Scarborough Blvd., since mid-December to house 30 people with pets who could not stay in regular shelters, according to board spokesperson Níel Jurist. The group came from homeless camps the city ordered vacated in December .
On Saturday, the Loyalty Inn closed as part of an agreement between the hotel’s current owner and the City Attorney’s Office Property Action Team, which has been working with the property for years, according to Pete Shipley, a spokesperson for City Attorney Zach Klein. In 2021, the Franklin County Environmental Court declared the Loyalty Inn a public nuisance and ordered the owner, or any subsequent owner, to make improvements…