JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville has condemned a Baymeadows hotel that was the site of a meth lab bust Monday.
Officials said it will be up to the Homestead Studio Suites on Western Way to pay for testing and cleaning by a certified outside company, and it's not clear how long all of that will take.
The company must have licensed environmental hygienists and contractors. Environmental hygienists have to conduct testing of the hotel's interior and determine the effects, if any, of a meth production for the building to be reopened and what, if any, items need to be replaced.
According to Code Enforcement, if any structure is proven to have a meth lab in it, the structure is condemned.
The city's municipal code states: "The determination that a property is unsafe for use applies to any property that is known to have been used as an illegal drug manufacturing site, or for which there are reasonable grounds to believe that the property has been used as an illegal drug manufacturing site."
Police arrested Heath Coffield in connection with the production of meth at the hotel.
Police said they found a black bag containing chemicals and equipment necessary to produce meth, including ammonium nitrate.
Coffield's girlfriend told police he'd been cooking meth in his hotel room, but moved the stuff out along the wood line near Interstate 95, according to a police report.
Police and the state Fire Marshal evacuated the entire hotel after the meth lab was discovered. Guests who were staying at the hotel were relocated to different hotels throughout the city.
Jacksonville Fire-Rescue's hazmat team and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's bomb squad assisted in the investigation.