WFAA-TV

Neighbors complain about prostitution and crime at the motel, which is adjacent to two schools.

DALLAS — If neighborhood activists have their way, the Classic Motel in North Oak Cliff will have to close its doors for good.

Parents and students say they are fed up following what they say are more than 20 years of prostitution, theft and even kidnappings at the motel in the 1100 block of East 8th Street.

N.W. Harllee Elementary and Townview magnet schools are right across the street, and parents say that's trouble waiting to happen.

Victoria Billingslea worries about the kinds of things her daughter is exposed to as she escorts her to class. "She sees some things I don't even see," Billingslea said. "I see a lot of prostituting; women walking the streets with their panties off."

Motel owner Yogi Ghandi told News 8 he lives there with his wife and two sons. He said he operates a family place.

The city says the motel doesn't have all the right permits needed to operate legally, so the activist group Dallas Progress has started two months of legal work to shut it down.

If it works, the Classic Motel would be the third facility Dallas Progress has shut down this year.

E-mail sslater@wfaa.com