PENDLETON — The Marigold Hotel is not renting rooms to residents in Umatilla County as part of a plan to help reduce police calls to the area.

After Pendleton police issued a chronic nuisance warning to the hotel on Friday, July 3, the owners of the hotel worked with the Stuart Roberts, Pendleton chief of police, to come up with a plan to reduce illicit activities on the property. Part of the chronic nuisance order compels the property owners to come up with a viable abatement plan for any ongoing issues that resulted in the notice.

The Marigold is not renting to locals, including residents in Umatilla County, according to Jesse Cunningham, hotel front desk clerk and acting assistant manager. The abatement plan also included vacating guests, cleaning the property and implementing stricter policies on reservations.

“The plan is working,” Cunningham said. “The place is cleaned up. It’s a lot more organized and although there aren’t as many people in here, it’s a lot more orderly and quieter.”

Following the arrest of six people on a variety of drug charges on Thursday, July 2, at the hotel, including possession and delivery of methamphetamine and heroin, Roberts issued the chronic nuisance warning. A month following the drug bust, Roberts said the police calls to the hotel has dwindled down to next to nothing.

“Our call of service to that location, since I’ve communicated with them and they were able to put their plan of action, has gone down,” he said. “I think now they have a much clearer understanding of where they want to be as a business and what kind of contributions they want to make to the community.”

According to Cunningham, long term and weekly stays are no longer accepted, and all guests must have a credit card and identification on file.

Additionally, the hotel owners have enhanced security and are complying with weekly check-ins with Roberts. Since the changes have been implemented, Cunningham said that although overall occupancy is lower, the illicit activity surrounding the building has decreased.

“We’re just a small hotel trying to make it like everybody else,” Cunningham said. “We hope that our rough beginning didn’t shake the ground and make it so nobody wants to give it a shot here, because we want to get along with everyone here in Pendleton.”

Roberts said part of the issue leading to the chronic nuisance order was that the hotel was unprepared to deal with the consequences of its lax reservation policies, especially in terms of trying to generate revenue to cover their mortgage in any way they could.