NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Hermitage woman is petitioning to declare a local business as a public nuisance. 

This comes after a public records request revealed hundreds of calls were made to Metro police regarding the Hermitage Inn and surrounding businesses in the last five years.  

“Shots fired, then a whole page of theft,” Katrina Leach said. 

Leach looked through dozens of calls for service pages for a business directly across the street from the Hermitage Inn. Some of the logs are duplicates.  

“Hermitage has really allowed it to become the wild west,” Leach said. 

Leach claimed the Hermitage Inn is luring in crime, impacting local businesses across the street. 

The owner and manager of the Kwik Sak off Lebanon Pike said they’ve seen an increase in unhoused people around their store.  

“You go about a mile and a half down Old Hickory Boulevard, you hit an extremely large homeless encampment.” 

For the past year, neighbors have shared their increasing concerns around the homeless encampment off Old Hickory Boulevard. 

“There is only so much police can do and it’s a drain on our resources,” Leach said. 

Leach has since created an online petition with just over 100 signatures so far. She is asking the city to declare the Hermitage Inn a public nuisance and said she would like the business to close down until there are some positive changes.  

“I think it’s unfair that we are being held hostage in our community…operating as is isn’t okay; we aren’t safe here anymore and it’s not okay,” Leach said. 

News 2 spoke with the owner of the Hermitage Inn over the phone today. He said conditions were bad during the pandemic, but he believes now they are under control.  

News 2 also spoke with District 11 councilmember Jeff Eslick, who said he is aware of the petition and is in communication with the Hermitage Police Precinct.