Pennsylvania- Operators of a Milford Township strip club, where topless dancers have performed since mid-December, will ask township supervisors tonight to recognize them as a legal business.
Barnett Food Group will go before the board to request a permit to operate an adult entertainment business inside Coyotes Show Club on Route 663 near the Quakertown exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Northeast Extension.
The township, anticipating a large turnout for the controversial proposal, is holding the 7 p.m. meeting at Milford Township Fire Company, 2185 Milford Square Pike.
Barnett opened the club Dec. 14, despite not having applied for a permit for an adult entertainment use, and has withstood Milford’s attempts to put a stop to nude dancing through court actions.
Before opening, Barnett filed a civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, alleging the township is violating its constitutional right to offer nude dancing.
The club, formerly Avanti’s and Lacey’s restaurants, is at 1907 John Fries Highway in a planned commercial zoning district, where adult entertainment is allowed as a conditional use that requires the approval of the township supervisors.
That is a ”prior restraint on First Amendment rights,” the lawsuit says, because the township ordinances give the supervisors ”unfettered discretion to grant or deny conditional use permits.”
Throughout the legal battle, the township has said Coyotes is an illegal business because Barnett had a permit to operate only a restaurant and not a strip club.
The two sides last month reached an agreement under which Barnett would put its federal suit on hold and make a formal request for a permit.
The deal allowed Barnett to get a speedy hearing and decision. Township officials said the agreement gives them an opportunity to avoid costly legal bills.
Glenn D. McGogney, the Allentown attorney representing Barnett and its president, John Sibley, has said his client may decide to reactivate the lawsuit if he’s not satisfied with the outcome of the hearing.
Supervisors have until March 28 to render a decision on the request. The board tentatively has scheduled a second hearing date for Feb. 20.