For immediate release: March 17, 2008  (08-028)

Contacts:
Shannon Walker, Facilities and Services Licensing 360-236-2933
Jeff Smith, Communications Office 360-236-4072

OLYMPIA ¾ Mold and other unsanitary conditions have led state health investigators to close a Seattle motel.

The state Department of Health has suspended the license of the Orion Motel, 12045 North Aurora Ave., Seattle. The department found it poses an immediate threat to guests.

Investigators found the motel violated construction, maintenance, electrical, fire, and safety codes. The motel must be vacated by March 17. It may not reopen until after a hearing.

Conditions in the motel rooms include non-working smoke detectors; mold; unsanitary mattresses; unsafe exposed electrical wiring; unsanitary floors, walls, and fixtures; and other unsanitary conditions. The owner has 20 days to request a hearing and contest these charges.

Motels offering three or more units to guests for less than 30 days must be licensed by the state’s Facilities and Services Licensing Program. The program licenses about 1,700 motels, hotels, inns, resorts and bed-and-breakfast facilities in the state. It enforces health and safety standards for those establishments.

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