SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – Mayor Charles V. Ryan has revoked the entertainment license of an adult video and sex products store on Bridge Street, saying in a ruling issued yesterday that the viewing booths have been the scene of lewdness and crime.
Amazing.net at 486 Bridge St. can stay open to sell books, magazines, videos and sex toys, but its 16 movie-viewing booths must be closed, Assistant City Solicitor Michael E. Mulcahy said.
Police and building code inspectors will be responsible for enforcing the shut down of the booths in the store at the Apremont Triangle, he said.
Lawyers locally and in Rhode Island who represent the company that owns the store, Capital Video Corp. of Cranston, R.I., didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Despite the revocation, Capital Video Corp. can apply for an entertainment license for 2008, City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said. Entertainment licenses run from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.
Ryan’s 13-page ruling was dated Friday. It came more than a year after an Oct. 11, 2006, inspection by the city Health and Human Services Department found “deplorable conditions within the booths,” said a press release that accompanied the mayor’s ruling.
The initial health inspection was followed by several police investigations, including some by undercover officers, and a recommendation from Police Capt. Kevin M. Dudley that the city revoke the store’s entertainment license to close the booths.
Police and city health inspectors found problems that included dirty video booths, holes in walls between booths, inappropriate contact between individuals in booths and various health-code violations, Ryan’s ruling said.
Police and neighbors also have blamed Amazing.net for being a magnet for loitering, prostitution and drug activity.
Police Commissioner Edward A. Flynn applauded the license revocation.
“I think it’s a real strong move to improve the quality of life for the neighborhood,” Flynn said.
In late December, city officials re-inspected Amazing.net and found that many of the violations cited in previous inspections had been corrected.
Improvements included hiring a new manager, firing two employees, upgrades to the booths and installation of a second surveillance camera, better lighting and a parabolic mirror to allow for viewing into the booth area from the front desk, Ryan’s ruling said.
But inspectors found “repeated and persistent evidence of illegal activity and complicity and reckless disregard of Capital Video’s management over a long period of time which is sufficient to constitute a nuisance,” Ryan’s ruling said
A violation hearing on the inspections’ findings was scheduled for December of last year and January, but continually postponed at Capital Video Corp.’s request.
Ryan issued an entertainment license to the store for the current year pending the hearing, which was held at City Hall on June 18.
Amazing.net has a business certificate from the City Clerk’s Office that expires on Feb. 15, 2009.
Capital City also operates a store on King Street in Northampton, but that store does not have film booths.