Peabody officials review migrant housing at three hotels as public-safety and school impacts rise

Peabody municipal safety officials reviewed state-run migrant housing at three local hotels during a committee meeting, with health and public-safety leaders reporting higher emergency calls, repeated health and code complaints and a continuing absence of detailed state planning for an exit timeline.

"As of today, they have about 75 families and residents comprised of 138 children and 115 adults for a total of 253 individuals," Sharon Cameron, Peabody’s director of health and human services, said of the Holiday Inn, which the state designated a shelter. Cameron said the Holiday Inn has been given a December 31 closing date and that families from other closed sites continue to be placed there.

The meeting focused on three hotels used for sheltering: Holiday Inn (1 Newbury Street), Extended Stay America (listed in materials as 200 Jewel Julie Drive) and SpringHill Suites (listed in materials as 403 Newbury Street). Cameron said SpringHill Suites closed several months earlier and Extended Stay closed the previous week; some families from those sites moved to the Holiday Inn.

Why it matters: officials said the hotels were not designed for long-term residency and city departments have logged recurring complaints — including pest activity, reports of bed bugs, raw-sewage backups and unregistered vehicles — and have required professional remediation. The issues have produced more…