The city of Pueblo with assistance from law enforcement shut down the Val U Stay Inn and Suites Thursday morning, leaving residents unhoused.

The city issued a temporary housing and shelter emergency declaration officials say is tied to the shutdown. Mayor Heather Graham told Gazette news partner KOAA that the hotel had been operating without a valid lodging license since last year.

According KOAA, the city confirmed with News5 partners that multiple investigations were ongoing at the hotel located along Highway 50 and North Hudson Avenue. The Pueblo Fire Department and Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment conducted an inspection of the site, which a spokesperson for the department told KOAA found unsanitary conditions.

Some residents told KOAA they did not know where they were staying for the night. Nonprofits were on scene to provide aid.

Graham issued the declaration of temporary housing and shelter emergency for the city beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

“During this emergency, local churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other religious institutions may utilize their buildings as temporary shelters for the City’s homeless,” the declaration reads.

The hotel is the second shut down on Highway 50 in Pueblo this year after the Rodeway Inn in February.