Twp. to vote on bottle-club ban

It will be the second bottle-club vote in the Greenville area in two years.
& lt;a href=mailto:gwin@vindy.com & gt;By HAROLD GWIN & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Rumors that someone might open a bottle club featuring nude female dancers was enough for Sugar Grove Township supervisors to take some preventive action.
The supervisors decided in July to let the voters of this community of about 1,000 people decide if they want that type of entertainment in their neighborhood.
The supervisors asked the Mercer County Board of Elections to put a bottle club referendum on the ballot and the county agreed, setting it up for the April 27 primary.
Nothing concrete came of the rumor, but the supervisors believed some prevention was needed, said Nanci E. Gearhart, township secretary-treasurer.
Some township residents had also asked the supervisors about what could be done, she said.
The ballot question will read: "Do you favor the prohibition of the operation of establishments commonly referred to as bottle clubs in the township of Sugar Grove, Mercer County, Pa.?"
Gearhart said she isn't aware of any opposition to passage of the referendum.
What they are
Bottle clubs generally feature nude dancers and get around state liquor laws (which prohibit nude dancing where alcohol is served) by not seeking a liquor license and allowing visitors to bring in their own alcohol.
The law that allows residents of a municipality to decide if they want such businesses is part of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code.
It says that, 30 days after the certification of a referendum vote, a bottle club "shall not operate" in the municipality in which the referendum was passed.
This is the second bottle-club vote in Mercer County in two years.
Residents of neighboring West Salem Township passed a similar question by a 424-206 vote in the May 20, 2003, primary, seeking to curtail the use of alcohol at Headliners Gentlemen's Club on Pa. Route 18, just south of Greenville.
Opponents of the club had been looking for some way to put it out of business, but learned their legal avenues were limited.
They found that passage of a bottle-club referendum wouldn't force the business to close, but it would ban alcohol there.
The club's attorney would not comment when the referendum passed, and the club continues to operate.
A manager at the club contacted this week would not comment.
The club's newspaper advertisements billed it as a BYOB, or Bring Your Own Bottle, club, but that designation was dropped from the ads not long after passage of the referendum.
James Epstein, Mercer County district attorney, said neither his office nor the Greenville-West Salem police have received any eyewitness complaints about alcohol at the club.
If such a complaint were received, it would be investigated, he said.