AUSTINTOWN Strip-club petitioners near goal

A trustee said township residents shouldn't sign the petitions unless they want more strip clubs.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A Youngstown attorney says opponents of the township's new strip club resolution are about 100 signatures away from placing the resolution on the ballot.
Scott Cochran said about 1,000 signatures have been collected on petitions to place the resolution on the November 2003 ballot. Cochran represents The Babylon club on Javit Court.
A total of 1,141 signatures are needed. That's 10 percent of the number of township residents who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
License law
Trustees unanimously approved the resolution Sept. 23. It requires strip club owners, strippers and other club employees to get a license to work in the township. It is slated to take effect Oct. 23.
If the petitions are filed before Oct. 23, the trustees won't be permitted to enforce the resolution unless it is approved in the November 2003 election.
Cochran said he was confident the remaining signatures would be collected before Oct. 23. He discussed the petitions Wednesday after township trustees held a news conference to express concerns about efforts to put the resolution on the ballot.
Trustees said they've gotten calls saying that those circulating the petitions are claiming the township is trying to put the resolution on the ballot. Callers also have said they've been told the petitions are to place home rule on the ballot.
Cochran noted that he hasn't received calls and complaints like those. He added that if he received complaints, he would strongly discourage those circulating petitions from talking about home rule or from stating that the trustees wanted the resolution on the ballot.
Home rule is a limited form of self-government approved by trustees in March. Township residents later collected enough signatures to place home rule on the ballot this November.
Those circulating petitions have been telling local residents that the petitions will let voters decide the fate of the strip club resolution, Cochran said.
The petitions to place the strip club resolution on the ballot are being circulated by representatives of The Babylon, Club 76, and other township residents who aren't connected to either club, Cochran said. Club 76 is on Seventy-six Drive.
Township Administrator Michael Dockry said he thinks township residents won't sign the petitions once they know that the petitions aren't supported by trustees and aren't to place home rule on the ballot.
"Don't sign the petitions unless you want more strip clubs," Trustee Bo Pritchard said.
Trustees have said they hope the resolution will limit the negative effects that a strip club can have on a community. Cochran has stressed that he feels The Babylon hasn't been a detriment to Austintown.
Residents' support
Cochran said the petitioners' efforts have received support from some Austintown residents who aren't satisfied with how township officials have dealt with other local issues. Those issues include home rule, the installation of the new entrance sign at Countryside Estates, and the request for a zoning change for the proposed Centerpointe business development.
Township Clerk Michael Kurish said he didn't think the residents concerned about those issues would be opposed to the strip club resolution.
"I would like to give the individuals the benefit of the doubt," he said. "They want Austintown exhibited in the best light."
Michael Creatore, a Countryside Boulevard resident who opposed the installation of the Countryside entrance sign, said he feels the strip club resolution will be approved if it appears on the ballot.
"I'm not impressed with those types of establishments in our community," he said.
hill@vindy.com