Suit filed over opening of strip tease club

YOUNGSTOWN — A man seeking to open a strip tease club in a vacant former Austintown night club has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Austintown Fire Department and Mahoning County’s chief building official violated his free expression rights by blocking minor renovations for the cabaret.

These renovations were blocked with stop work orders linked to fire and building code issues, states the action filed Wednesday by 5455 Clarkins Drive Inc., and its president and sole shareholder, Robert Neill.

Named as defendants are the Austintown Fire Department and its inspector, Lt. Richard Milliron, and Mahoning County and its chief building official, Jeffrey Uroseva.

The suit says Neill leased the 5,000-square-foot building at 5455 Clarkins Drive, where he intends to open the Go Go Girls Cabaret featuring “live, exotic strip-tease dancing,” hired an engineer and began making minor repairs to the building in June. The building, located in an area zoned for business, is amid a cluster of truck stops and motels at the interchange of I-80 and state Route 46.

A hearing on Neill’s request for a temporary restraining order to bar the county and the fire department from blocking the renovations or interfering with the cabaret opening will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday before Magistrate George J. Limbert in U.S. District Court in Youngstown. The suit also seeks a permanent restraining order, attorney fees and damages to be decided in a trial.

For more, read Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com