Setting the stage for a strip club?

By Paul Crocetti/Daily News staff
GHS
Sat Feb 09, 2008, 12:13 AM EST

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story Tools: Email This | Print This
MILFORD -
Doc's Sports Bar has applied for a special permit to feature adult entertainment at the restaurant.

According to the town bylaw, an adult entertainment enterprise qualifies for a number of uses, including an establishment that features exotic dancers and strippers, an adult video store and stores that sell sex toys.

Officials yesterday could not say exactly what kind of adult entertainment Doc's is seeking. The application does not specifically say, but it notes that privacy glass will be set up to prevent any view from outside.

At the bar yesterday, employees would not comment on the application and said the management was out of town.

On the application, the applicant is listed as Milford Sports Club, doing business as Doc's Sports Bar, at 324 East Main St. The owner on the application is listed as Route 16 Land and Development Inc.

Both corporations list Kevin T. Coady Sr. of Mendon as president, according to the secretary of state's Web site.

The application, received Feb. 4 by the town clerk's office, also says the proposed use will not create "undue traffic congestion" and will not "cause harm to the neighborhood or create a nuisance or hazard affecting the health, safety or general welfare of the public."

The proposed use will be for people 21 and older.

"There will be trained employees who will check IDs and make sure the club is run professionally," the application said. "Doc's has been serving large groups of customers during some large sporting events and parties for six years without incident and will continue to do so if the special permit is issued."

Doc's must go through the Zoning Board of Appeals for the right to have adult entertainment, and it must meet a number of criteria for the special permit.

"If you meet the requirements, you're effectively entitled to the permit," said Jonathan Bruce, chairman of the Zoning Board.

Among the requirements are rules stating that the enterprise cannot provide obscene merchandise or services, disseminate adult matter to minors or be located within 400 feet of a dwelling or school, according to the bylaw.

A member of the zoning board for 20 years, Bruce said he cannot remember any special permit applications for adult entertainment.

Town Planner Larry Dunkin said he does not know of any adult entertainment enterprises in town.

Out of 11 types of districts in town, three have been designated for adult entertainment enterprise use, according to the bylaw. Those districts are highway commercial, highway industrial, and highway and neighborhood industrial.

Eighty percent of Doc's Sports Bar lies in a highway and neighborhood industrial district, while 20 percent of it is in a highway industrial one, the application said.

Bruce said he wants to make sure the applicant gets a fair hearing.

"My personal beliefs don't play into this at all," he said. "We have a bylaw and an application. Does the application satisfy the requirements of the bylaw?"

Bruce said he does not know yet if the requirements are met.

The Zoning Board will likely hold a public hearing for the special permit application at its March 13 meeting.

"We'll listen to the applicant and other concerned parties," Bruce said.

Before that, Dunkin will make a recommendation to the Planning Board.

The Planning Board will then make a recommendation, likely at its March 4 meeting, and submit that to the Zoning Board, Dunkin said.

"Adult entertainment enterprises have a laundry list of restrictions they have to meet," Dunkin said.

He said he has not come to a conclusion yet and will look at the application over the next couple of weeks.

The town bylaw requires that the Planning Board give a recommendation, which is non-binding, to the Zoning Board before it makes a ruling, unless 30 days have passed since the date the application was filed, Bruce said.

Although the first stage concerns zoning, the applicant might have to go before selectmen for a change of use request, said selectmen Chairman William Buckley.

"I'm comfortable the process we have will give the level of review required," Buckley said, adding that he did not want to express his opinions on the matter until the Zoning Board has a chance to review it.

The police department has not had any major problems with Doc's Sports Bar, said Chief Thomas O'Loughlin. He did not want to comment on the possible effects of the special permit, saying it is too early.

There is no specific area designated for adult entertainment in town, Bruce said. The three districts in the bylaw that allow for adult entertainment each have a few different locations throughout town, he said.

"Every community has to provide a limited area for adult entertainment," an interpretation of the courts, said Town Counsel Gerald Moody. "If the applicant (for the special permit) can meet all the conditions, they can conduct adult entertainment."

Paul Crocetti can be reached at 508-634-7583 or pcrocett@cnc.com



http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1703684644