Sep 15, 2008 6:46 pm US/Eastern
Mendon Gears Up For Fight Over Strip Club Proposal
MENDON (WBZ) ―
As the small town prepared for what could be a big fight, Mendon Town Coordinator Dale Pleau showed WBZ's Ron Sanders the schematics submitted with the license application from owners of Oak Tree Supply to replace their landscaping business with "Showtime Entertainment," a two-stage strip club. "It's roughly 235 seats, I think 8,300 square feet," said Pleau.
Christopher Funari, who along with his father George have applied for the
strip club license, had no comment. Deborah Lane is head of
"Speak Out Mendon" -- a group of about 150 residents who oppose the strip club proposal.
Sanders: Who are most of the members?
Funari: People working full-time jobs, have children of their own and just want to maintain the Mendon we've grown to know and love.
Sanders: Which is bedroom community?
Funari: A bedroom community.
Lane says her group has leafleted 3,000 homes in the town that likes being known for its drive-in theater -- not a strip club that would be located a few doors down the road. She says they fear secondary effects on the town. "There'll be prostitution, drug use, increased gambling, maybe even organized crime," predicted Lane.
In May, Mendon restricted adult entertainment to a small zone as did nearby Milford, which rejected a strip club proposal. Even if Showtime gets a license, review by planning and zoning boards would still be required.
Town Coordinator Pleau says "We've already spent a lot of money in legal fees and research up 'til now."
He foresees asking for more funding from town counsel at a town meeting.
Pleau says his best guess is the Board of Selectmen won't make a decision right away on whether to allow adult entertainment there.
They have up to 30 days to make a decision. There's also a special town meeting in Mendon scheduled for October 7, where two more
bylaws governing adult entertainment will be discussed.
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