Milford, Pa- Coyotes Show Club is moving ahead with its plan to make its strip tease business a permanent fixture in Milford.

The club filed an application Friday with Milford that asks for permission to have strip tease, lap dancing and the like at its premises on Route 663 near the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Coyotes has been embroiled in controversy and legal battles with Milford since residents and officials in the Upper Bucks township learned nearly two months ago that the bar’s proprietor planned to make exotic dancing the establishment’s primary business.

Nonetheless, Coyotes attorney Glenn McGogney said he’s confident the club will win approval to operate from township officials — and if not them, then from the courts.

“I’m sure that if they do not issue the permit we will go to court and we will prevail,” McGogney said. “The law is clearly on our side as far as our constitutional rights to be there.”

Hearings on Coyotes application are slated to begin on Feb. 7 at the municipal building on Krammes Road, though the township is considering moving the meeting to Pfaff Elementary School to accommodate the expected crowd.

Residents, many of whom have raised opposition to having the strip club in their town, can attend the meeting and will be given time to have their say, officials said.

McGogney is expecting an earful.

“They can voice their concerns — I’m sure they will — but the outcome of one’s constitutional rights is not conditioned on the popular vote,” said the Allentown-based attorney, who is a shareholder in DMMW Inc., the company that owns the building Coyotes is in.

With Coyotes seemingly confident it can win a court battle against the township if its application to operate is denied, some have wondered if that means the hearings are just a formality and that the board of supervisors has been backed into a corner to approve the plan.

Supervisors have maintained that approval is not a done deal and that they will make their decision based on the law.

Milford’s zoning law allows strip clubs in the township’s commercial district, but the clubs must meet certain conditions, such as being at least 1,000 feet from a school, church or recreational facility.

“The only thing that is relevant is the conditional use requirements, and we meet them without issue,” said McGogney. Township officials are withholding comment on the merit of the application until the hearings begin.

Some in the township initially thought that Coyotes could be violating zoning because the club abuts John Fries Park, which is basically a bench and some trees and underbrush between the club and a motel.

However, there is apparently nothing in township zoning that prohibits the club being near a park, but rather a recreational facility. A legal review showed John Fries Park cannot be considered a recreational facility, said Supervisor Charlie Strunk.

Coyotes’ proprietors, Barnett Food Group LLC, agreed to drop a federal lawsuit against Milford and apply for local approval to operate as part of a deal that requires Milford to approve or deny Coyotes application by March 28.

“There’s a time limit on this. It’s not going to be a lengthy process,” said Strunk.

Reached earlier this week, the deal allows Coyotes to continue operating its strip business while the hearings proceed as long as the club met a Friday deadline for a conditional use permit, which McGogney applied for Friday afternoon. The club opened its doors for business on Dec. 14 without permission from the township.

The township had launched a cease-and-desist order but withdrew it pending the outcome of the hearings as part of the deal, which also stipulates neither side will seek to recoup legal expenses incurred up until the time of the supervisors’ decision.

Coyotes sued Milford in late November, alleging the township’s zoning violates First Amendment rights. The club asked a judge to strike the zoning down, clearing the way for them to do business.

As part of its repertoire, Coyotes plans to feature comedians, musical acts, the occasional male stripper revue and even strip-dancing classes taught by the club’s female exotic dancers.