07.27.08
Sexually Oriented Business Proposed Ordinance
The Town Council met on July 22 in a special meeting to schedule a public hearing on the proposed ordinances for sexually oriented businesses. For the life of me, I cannot find the date of the public hearing - maybe someone out there knows. Anyway, the proposed ordinance is too lengthy to put up, so here is the link:
http://www.ci.east-hartford.ct.us/Public_Documents/EastHartfordCT_BBoard/01433E08-000F8513
East Hartford Taxpayer said,
July 27, 2008 at 5:33 pm
What I find interesting is that the proposed ordinance defining adult stores may cause iParty to have to remove their bachelor/bachelorette party gag items, of which they have nearly an entire aisle last time I was there, or face regulation as an adult store.
How's That Again? said,
July 31, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Reproduced from Brainflation
“We should all take the opportunity tonight to thank Planning & Zoning Commission members Paul Roczynski, John Ryan, John Grottole and Kathy Salemi for voting against the creation of new adult zones which would have permitted 6 or more adult businesses to infiltrate residential neighborhoods and for not changing their vote under pressure from the mayor. The people spoke clearly at the last hearing and at least these four were listening.”
THANK THEM? THEY GUARANTEED ADULT ESTABLISHMENTS CAN LOCATE HERE!
With their vote, they showed no backbone even after being advised by defense attorneys what will happen based on their vote.
East Hartford Taxpayer said,
July 31, 2008 at 11:34 pm
[quote] THANK THEM? THEY GUARANTEED ADULT ESTABLISHMENTS CAN LOCATE HERE!
With their vote, they showed no backbone even after being advised by defense attorneys what will happen based on their vote.[/quote]
I certainly understand where you are coming from, but the statement is a bit absurd and not true.
Consider what you are saying. You are suggesting they guaranteed that adult establishments will come to town (I presume you are referring to Masters Club & Pitkin St Entertainment) by blocking a zoning change that would guarantee up to 6 establishments could come to town.
What they in fact did was refuse to make two residential areas into permitted use zones for adult clubs. Just because that was the proposal the administration stuck the P&Z with doesn’t mean it was the right or only one to be presented.
You can’t in one breath have the Mayor telling the few residents near the Roberts Street location that she’ll defend them from the clubs and then turn around and guarantee that two other large areas of town, comprised of many more residents than Roberts Street, are going to be open for up to six adult businesses.
This isn’t rocket science, it’s business. You need to come to terms with the fact that if a club wants to come to town there is nothing the town can do besides determine the best place to put them and make their lives hard through regulation.
We already know North Meadows and Prestige Park are poor places to put adult businesses in terms of secondary effects. We know it because the same people (Mike Dayton et al.) who prior to proposing those zoning amendments made a presentation for the P&Z to make it absolutely clear just how heinous those effects would be. They even went so far as to bring in Hugo Benettieri to pin some murders on the existing clubs. Is that what belongs in North Meadows and the neighborhoods surrounding Prestige Park? The answer is either a resounding no and the administration ought to be looked at long and hard for even putting it before the P&Z or else they are knowingly lying to council & P&Z members about the extent of any secondary effects. Either way there is some sort of twisting going on here and it’s certainly not in our best interest as residents.
I bet the details will come out before too long on this and we’ll all see what kind of hole we are actually standing in.
How's That Again? said,
August 2, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Rather than be an apologist/propagandist for the Republicans on P and Z, let’s just admit that the defense attorneys asked P and Z to do one thing, and they did another.
That, my friend, is how our town’s regulations will be ruled unconstitutional, which will open the door to more adult establishments.
The freak show that is Susan Kniep will further confuse already confused residents into believing that by signing the petition, they are keeping adult establishments out, when in fact they will be more easily letting them in, unless P and Z acts to defend.
How’s that for irony?
P and Z wants to keep what’s in place which will cause the town and Mayor to have no legitimate chance to fight this and expect a victory.
P and Z got themselves into this mess and they need to focus on how to get the town out of the mess they created.
Straping on a pair is a good place to start.
East Hartford Taxpayer said,
August 2, 2008 at 11:53 pm
You have tunnel vision on this issue. There is more than one way this issue could be addressed.
First off you need to realize that the P&Z is a government body made up of both major parties (and both parties were involved in rejecting the last plan) which is charged with acting in the best interest of the town (and by extension it’s people). To do so each member must act on their own beliefs and understanding about the issues they face. The attorneys are there to council them, not tell them what to do.
The town has until the end of August roughly to stop messing around and come up with a plan that doesn’t involve giving adult establishments carte blanche in residential neighborhoods or I-3 zoned areas surrounded by residential neighborhoods.
I’d say they ought to think strongly about taking the offer that was given to them by masters club. A hit to the administration’s pride would be far less painful than more Venus caliber joints popping up around town as the result of knee jerk zoning.
Jester said,
August 3, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I STRONGLY agree with East Hartford Taxpayer. The writing is on the wall. The Mayor has talked out of both sides of her neck. Based on how she, the one calling the shots, has handled this mess. Look up her comments from the start of this mess until now. How are we suppose to have ANY confidence in the Mayor?? The town should take the deal that the Masters Club presented them with. If not, we know CLEARLY the Mayor is not working for the peoples best interest.
Jester said,
August 3, 2008 at 8:57 pm
If you look it up, P & Z didn’t get us into this mess. Mike Dayton is the one who proposed the changing of I-3 to DDD-1. P & Z acted on the info presented by Mr. Dayton. Clearly Mr.Dayton didn’t do all of his homework.
SRA said,
August 4, 2008 at 10:21 am
I think whats missing here is just stronger regulations on ALL businesses by P and Z. What I mean by that is tighter regulations on signage, facade, landscaping, partking, etc. Why do you think that these clubs aren’t going into towns like glastonbury? Because they have strict regulations and rules on how these businesses present themselves. EH’s lax attitudue in this area has lead the creation and hodge podge of crap that you see all over town. We are so desperate for revenue that we allow whatever to come into town without the slighest regard for how its going to look and how it will impact the overall look and feel of the town. This is why these adult businesses love EH. They can come in with their neon signs and EH doesn’t give a crap as long as they put money into the coffers. I wish this town would get off its ass and get rid of the people that have been on these commissions for 40+ years and don’t have a clue or realize what is going on around them!
Not me said,
August 8, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Brainflation Jon is unreal. He says “he happened upon” an unsigned letter that he believes is the deal of the century for the town and the town should drop all litigation and give a sex business and all its trappings a monopoly?
Jon, could it be Paul or John from the RTC gave it to you?
In any case, has it ever occured to you that Mr. Chu and his lawyer are playing you like a finely tuned fiddle to get their one sided press out?
Ladyx said,
August 9, 2008 at 10:20 am
It really doesn’t matter where the letter came from or if the RTC “gave” it to him. Was he supposed to just “file” it away?
I am sure sure that there are many other ways for Chu and Coleman to get their story out besides “using” Jon.
Not me said,
August 9, 2008 at 5:56 pm
When the words “potentially”, “attempt”, “potentially”, and “most likely” are used to attempt to create a monopoly of smut in town with elected officials approval, it’s hardly an offer that can be taken seriously.
No elected official should entertain such an offer.
Rather than create a hospitable venue for them to distribute their sound bytes, Brainflation should be asking them to comment on the irony of creating smut in our town while leaving Mr. Chu’s home town of Glastonbruy smut free.
East Hartford Taxpayer said,
August 9, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I inquired why they didn’t bring a club to Glastonbury. Frankly, the answer made sense. There is no equivalent location at an equivalent price in Glastonbury.
Think like a businessman and everything falls into place.
concernedcitizen said,
August 12, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Not Me Said
Jon, could it be Paul or John from the RTC gave it to you?
Perhaps if you were at the P&Z meeting you might have seen Mr. Chu speaking with the author of Brainflation, as he has done many times in the past at other meetings. Maybe you should straight out ask John or Paul from the RTC if they gave him the info. I know John Ryan posts here sometimes..
Actually what you really need to do is watch the presentation by Atty Tom Gerard again and maybe,just maybe you might understand what is happening.
Ladyx said,
August 13, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Concerned - you hit the nail right on the head - no one has listened to what the Town Attorney said at the hearing. That’s a shame.