Angry and sometimes explicit testimony echoed in New Port Richey’s city hall Tuesday as a number of residents from the West River and Astor Drive neighborhood spoke to just how bad the issue of prostitution has become in New Port Richey along U.S. Highway 19.

Residents were quick to praise the efforts of the New Port Richey Police Department and the City Council members themselves, but were adamant about the need for more action, and quickly. Specifically, residents said they want City Council to do more to shut down the Travel Inn of Pasco County at 7532 U.S Highway 19. Police and residents have long alleged that the motel is a haven for crime.

Jack Callahan lives on Bellview Avenue. “19 is killing [us],” he said, “In particular the Travel Inn is killing [us]. The crime, the prostitution, the trash.” Mr. Callahan’s wife, Mary, added that it has “turned into our nightmare. We’re ready to leave. I’m scared. When I drive home, day or night, I have to look to see that it’s safe to get out. I can’t go get my paper until daylight. That motel [Travel Inn] has to go. It has to go. It’s dangerous and it’s a shame that I have to be afraid to live in my own home.”

Andrew Glasbrenner lives on Astor Drive with his two young sons. “On a daily basis I’m running prostitutes out of our yard,” he said. He did say he was thankful for the work that had been done on the problem.

Anthony Silva said it’s not only female prostitutes. “Not only do we have women prostituting, we have males prostituting. There is a young man walking around with a basketball–I don’t know if that’s a signal or something on the computer setup–but boom, they come pick him up,” he said.

Michael Tyler also lives on Bellview Avenue. “I walked out my front door and saw a prostitute giving oral sex to a man in a car outside my house [emphasis added],” he said. Mr. Tyler went on to say that this has tarnished his image of the City. He said he saw a woman on the street and “thought she was a prostitute, but when I looked back she had a baby. That’s just automatically what I thought. I hate to have that image of our city.”

Many other residents talked about the issue, one wondering why a solution was taking so long. “I think it’s just wrong,” he said. Another resident said that she had been verbally accosted, “They say, ‘What the $#@% are you looking at?'” She said she’d been forced to clean up empty whiskey bottles and, on occasion, used condoms. “I’m afraid to drive out on Bellview so I find another way out,” she said. Some residents even expressed a desire to move out of New Port Richey if the problem is not solved soon.

City Manager Debbie Manns responded to the residents’ concerns with a heartfelt pledge:

“I think the first thing I have to do to respond to the residents’ concerns is to say: I’m sorry. The City takes very seriously the depths of the problems. We have already effectuated some things that are going to be helpful to you by restructuring our police department. We’re doing that because the City council has sent a very clear message to me that they want these problems addressed. They want an image of US19 that is very different from what it is currently. We will be unrelenting–and I need to make that message clear here tonight–to address your problems [sic]. It will not happen overnight.”

City councilors echoed the message, promising to do more than they already have to end the problem. Councilman Jeff Starkey, Mayor Rob Marlowe, and Deputy Mayor Thomas all said they had recently been on ride-alongs with the police, and had first hand knowledge of the problem. “I was sitting in my own driveway on a prostitution sting,” Councilman Starkey said.

“We’re taking it seriously and I want those people out of there… It’s not acceptable,” Mayor Rob Marlowe said. Many council members cited hope for intervention from the city’s chronic nuisance ordinance which holds that after six arrests at an address, the owners of the property can be held accountable through a special magistrate proceeding. The measure was passed in mid June of 2013. Despite an as-of-this-time unknown number of arrests at the Travel Inn in New Port Richey, the business and property remain in operation. A special magistrate hearing was scheduled for 9:00 am today at City Hall. NewsPortRichey has been critical of the ordinance in the past, suggesting that there is a better way in asking District Attorney Bernie McCabe to limit previously convicted prostitutes’ ability to enter certain “prostitution exclusion zones.” The tactic has been effective in curbing prostitution along Tampa’s notorious Nebraska Avenue.

New Port Richey also recently passed a prostitution ordinance, which has made “hand signals” illegal for alleged prostitutes. NewsPortRichey has cited concerns about this measure being unconstitutional. A similar law was ruled unconstitutional in West Palm Beach.

Councilman Bill Phillips upped the ante in dealing with the problem, suggesting that the City take a next step if necessary. “If eminent domain is our only avenue to take away that particular magnet then we need to find those other dollars and we need to figure out how to get that done… And at the end of the day we put everybody on notice,” he said.

By Jon Tietz