Illegal-ad charges go to court

The charges relate to alleged banner and satellite dish advertisements.

STAFF REPORT

AUSTINTOWN — The manager of the Go Go Girls Cabaret strip club on Clarkins Drive and the owner of the hotel that houses the club are likely to go to trial sometime in the next couple months on allegations of displaying illegal advertisements.

Zoning violations were filed against Robert Neill, club manager, and the Chatur Corp., 1051 North Niles-Canfield Road, Austintown, owner of the hotel, formerly known as America’s Best Value Inn, now known as the Economy Inn.

A pretrial hearing was Monday in Mahoning County Area Court here before Judge David D’Apolito on charges that Neill and Chatur Corporation violated zoning codes by displaying a large banner on the side of the hotel.

Neill, of Boardman, also is charged with a separate offense in the alleged use of a satellite dish as an advertisement by painting a woman’s face on it.

The satellite dish is located next to the hotel, visible from Interstate 80 and state Route 46.

Michael Kurilla, township zoning inspector, said the charges related to the banner have not been dropped even though the banner recently was removed.

Kurilla said Neill and the Chatur Corporation could face a fine of $500 per day if found guilty of the alleged offenses.

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. The ordinance only allows “wall signs,” not satellite dishes, he said.

The banner, Kirilla said, was about four times as large as the code allowed.

Kirilla said a trial date will probably be set this week, and the trial should get under way within a couple of months, he said.