Strip club’s ad is a violation, official says

The strip club and hotel owner face possible fines of $500 per day for the signage.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

AUSTINTOWN — Austintown Township Trustee Lisa Oles says the picture of a woman and oversized banner being used as advertisement by the Go Go Girls Cabaret strip club on Clarkins Drive are an embarrassment to the township.

Zoning Inspector Michael Kurilla says the advertising is also illegal.

The result is that the club’s manager, Robert Neill of Youngstown, is expected back in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown on May 12 to face a minor misdemeanor charge of violating the zoning ordinance. He was convicted earlier last week on seven other charges related to the club.

On Feb. 7, Judge David D’Apolito of Mahoning County Court in Austintown set a pretrial date of May 12 for Neill to answer the charge relating to the advertisment on the satellite dish. The dish is near the business and is visible from state Route 46 and U.S. Route 76.

Kurilla has also sent a letter to the club and to the owner of the hotel on whose property the club is located, saying that the purple banner also violates the township’s zoning code. The hotel, now known as the Economy Inn, still has signage containing its former name, Best Value Inn.

Neill did not return phone calls seeking comment. Mike Patel, manager of the hotel, said there was no way to contact the owner of the hotel because he is out of the country. He said he is leaving matters pertaining to the club’s advertising up to the club.

“It seems like they’re flaunting that advertisement in our face,” Oles said. “I don’t feel that a cartoon face on a satellite dish or the purple and lime green fence or the banner is very appealing to our community. I feel it’s an embarrassment.”

The fencing near the satellite dish has been painted over since it first appeared in purple and lime green, she said. It is now purple and white.

Oles said she has received numerous complaints about the picture and banner since they went up.

Neill pleaded guilty Wednesday to seven minor misdemeanors relating to building and fire code violations at the club during its remodeling last year. He was ordered to pay fines and court costs of $554.

Neill tried to fight the charges in federal court in Youngstown last fall, saying the Mahoning County Building Inspection Department and Austintown Fire Department were violating the club’s First Amendment rights by charging him with violating building and fire codes. Neill said the club was being singled out because it was planning to provide striptease dancing.

Magistrate George Limbert set down some guidelines for the remodeling but ordered Neill and the officials to work out the matter on their own. The club complied with laws from that time forward, said Lt. Richard Milliron, fire inspector with the Austintown Fire Department.

Kurilla said Neill could face a fine of $500 per day for the alleged satellite dish offense.

The problem with the satellite dish is that it doesn’t meet any of the definitions of a sign spelled out in the township’s zoning ordinance covering sexually oriented businesses, Kurilla said. Only “wall signs” are allowed in the ordinance, he said, not satellite dishes.

On Nov. 15, Kurilla notified the club that the satellite dish needed to be painted over to eliminate the picture. The club had 20 days to comply or appeal the matter to the township zoning board of appeals, but it didn’t act, Kirilla said. The criminal charge was filed Jan. 16.

On Tuesday, Kirilla notified the club and Chatur Corporation of Youngstown, which owns the hotel, that the banner was too large to meet the zoning code. Kirilla estimates the banner is about four times as large as code allows. Kirilla notified the parties to remove the banner by March 10 or face criminal charges on that matter.

runyan@vindy.com