"Shame on you" and "May God forgive you." Yarmouth MA

Ruling may force hundreds out of Cape Cod motels
Panel suspends owner's license

By David Abel
Globe Staff / May 20, 2008
YARMOUTH - At the back of the motel room where Kerri Blackwell, her husband, and four young daughters have lived for more than a year, behind the mounds of laundry, the cans sorted for recycling, and the crib where the 10-month-old baby sleeps, the family has posted a handwritten sign.

It says: "Blackwell's Palace."

"It's not much, but it's the best we could find," said Kerri Blackwell, 37, who works at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts shop and says she cannot find a more affordable apartment in the area. "There should be a better place for us to live, but we can't afford the first month, last month, and security deposit to get in. Or the utilities. The rents we've seen are up to 2,000 a month."

The Blackwells don't want to leave the Cavalier Motel, but they may have no choice. Yesterday, the Board of Health in Yarmouth, citing a year-old law that prohibits motel owners from renting units beyond 30 consecutive days to customers without a permanent address, voted to suspend the motel's license, potentially forcing the Blackwells and 250 other low-income people from the Cavalier and two other motels in town.

Board officials have rejected pleas from community members, some of whom shouted from the audience yesterday, "Shame on you" and "May God forgive you." They said they had no choice and were just following laws passed by the town's selectmen, some of whom defended the board's vote after the meeting.

"We're not pushing anyone out to the curb; we're just not going to issue motel licenses to those who aren't acting as motels," said Suzanne McAuliffe, chairwoman of Yarmouth's Board of Selectmen. "The living conditions of some of the people in these motels are horrendous. We want them to live in adequate places. This is about shutting down dangerous, substandard, health-hazard-inducing housing."
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