Desperate motel residents plead with council to strike strip club deal

Dozens of impoverished tenants of the Ponderosa Motel pleaded with the Reno City Council on Wednesday to strike a deal with downtown strip clubs after their landlord threatened to nearly double their rents if the Wild Orchid is forced to relocate.

With desperation in their voices, the residents described the motel as the last barrier between them and homelessness in a community that is facing an affordable housing crisis.

"We really need this hotel more than anything in the world right now," said Velma Shoal, who said she lives with her 15-year-old granddaughter at the Ponderosa. "They was there when I had nobody. I had no one and nowhere to turn. That hotel gave me a place to live, a bed to sleep in and a way to cook for my granddaughter when I was homeless. Please don't take that from us."

More: Strip club owners threaten to raise rent on weekly motel residents

Shoal was one of scores of residents who received a letter from Kamy Keshmiri, whose family owns both the Ponderosa Motel and the Wild Orchid strip club, warning them that he would have no choice but to raise their rent if the Reno City Council passes ordinances that would force strip clubs out of downtown.

In the letter, Keshmiri said the Wild Orchid subsidizes the rent for the Ponderosa. Without that revenue, he said he would raise the rent to the market rate.

The news struck fear in the residents, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck or rely on scant disability or social security checks. They said they've seen their rent increase three times in the last year from $500 to $700. A jump to $1,200 would put them on the streets, many said.

"I think the main thing all of us are looking for is security in our home," said Olivia Nelson Robinson, who said she works three jobs to make ends meet. "Even though this is just a hotel to some people, this is our home and we want to be secure in there because this is what we can afford."

Reno City Councilwoman Neoma Jardon expressed disgust at Keshmiri's threat to raise rents on the motel's tenants.

"When they use you as political pawns to try and get their way, that's not an effective tactic," Jardon said. "It's a disgusting tactic."

"I hope the owners see what this tactic has done in scaring you and making you cry at the podium and worry about the roof over your head," Jardon said as Shoal left the microphone in tears. "I hope they are watching today."

In September, the council voted 5-2 to pursue ordinance changes that would force four strip clubs and an adult bookstore to close their existing locations in downtown and move to properly zoned industrial areas. The ordinances are being vetted by the Reno Planning Commission, which is expected to deliver an opinion to the council this spring.

That has prompted Kamy Keshmiri and his brother Jamy Keshmiri to wage an all-out public opinion war against the council's effort and threaten to sue if the ordinances are passed.

The Ponderosa tenants said they've had no problems with the strip club next door. The only stake they have in the fight, they said, is a room they can afford to live in.

Those rooms aren't always in the best condition. Reno code enforcement officers and the Washoe Health District have repeatedly closed rooms at the motel because of unsafe living conditions there.

Still, those who live at the Ponderosa are desperate to stay.

"Whatever issue you have with the Wild Orchid, you're my elected officials," said tenant Gregory Atkinson. "I expect you to deal with it reasonably to where both parties are happy. Why should I be punished and made homeless? I served my country. I would step up and eat a bullet and die for you people. Why am I being punished?"