Owner of Unlicensed Motels, Still Operating, Pleads Case to Seaside Heights Council

Flamingo Inn Motel, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Credit: Google Earth)

The owner of two motels operating in Seaside Heights without licenses – and despite a court order compelling them to cease operations – made a case through his attorney to the borough council this week stating the allegations against his establishments are routine issues any motel might deal with and not worthy of a license revocation.

The borough has been in court on issues dating back to inspections from 2023 for numerous motels owned by Sandip Patel, of Old Bridge. This week’s hearing before the mayor and council pertained specifically to the Flamingo Inn Motel and the Atlantic Inn Motel, and whether borough officials had collected enough evidence to warrant the denial of the mercantile licenses at each establishment. Both motels remain open despite having no mercantile licenses or certificates of occupancy, with room rates this week hovering around $75 per night.

The borough code allows for those appealing license denials to take their case to the borough council. The hearing was presided-over by Borough Attorney Robin La Bue, who will now review the evidence and present potential legal options to the council as to how they may proceed.

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Borough officials have stated in numerous reports that Patel’s establishments, which also include the Cloud 9 Motel and La Fontana Motel, have not complied with safety codes and have over-utilized borough services – especially police and EMS – by failing to vet tenants and maintaining an establishment that attracts crime and nuisance complaints.

“Our position is, based on the police complaints, they didn’t remove the tenants or investigate or vet their tenants,” said David Casadonte, special counsel for Seaside Heights in such matters, emphasizing that repeated calls to the motels zap police resources.

“You have five police officers on-scene, meaning those officers are not patrolling the streets of Seaside Heights,” Casadonte said. ” They are there for an extended period of time and their body cams are rolling.”

Casadonte said the Flamingo Inn was the subject to 28 police reports and 19 code enforcement complaints over the last several months, and has not held a mercantile license since 2023.

Attorney Mike Jacobus, representing Patel, argued that many of the code violations issued to the motels are due to the fact that they have no mercantile licenses, however the borough refuses to issue such licenses. In Wednesday’s hearing, Jacobus lobbied the council to reverse the borough staff’s decision to deny mercantile licenses.

“My client is attempting to comply with the regulations and pay the fee,” said Jacobus. “The borough seems to be working against the tide. We want to get our mercantile license, and for some reason the borough is resistant to that.”

Jacobus said a number of the calls to police were over mundane issues such as tenants becoming locked out of their rooms, disputes over payments and other civil matters. At least one of the reports, he said, had to do with a vehicle that was merely parked outside one of the motels.

“These are not repetitive, serious violations, especially for the size of the hotel,” said Jacobus. “These are isolated incidents, we’re talking about minor issues, and we’re talking about the resulting impact on my client, which is the denial of a mercantile license.”

In court documents, however, borough officials have stated that the Atlantic Inn Motel, in particular, had 119 calls to police over the course of the past year and the Flamingo Inn Motel had 56 – and other problems existed on top of the calls for service.

“I personally visited the Atlantic Inn the week of June 23, 2025 and witnessed insects crawling all over the front desk,” Borough Code Enforcement Officer Kenneth Roberts stated in the court filing.

Casadonte said Patel has done nothing to “mitigate” the violations.

“In this case, we don’t think there’s been any mitigation at all,” he said.

Though it was not brought up as part of the record Wednesday, Patel has argued through counsel in legal documents that he believes the borough is trying to shut down his motels so they can be redeveloped with higher-end properties.

The borough council is expected to pass a resolution adopting a decision on the appeal of the mercantile license denial at their next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 20, 2025.