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Faced with an outpouring of neighborhood opposition, Ashmun Street bar owner Joyce Bellamy has taken exotic dancing off the table — but still has plans for live entertainment.
The Butta J’s owner (pictured) said on Tuesday that exotic dancing will no longer be part of a request she filed with the state Department of Consumer Protection. She had sought to host exotic dancing at her Ashmun Street bar, formerly known as Cardinal’s. She’s still looking for a green light to have comedy and acoustic acts.
Even without exotic dancing, top Dixwell cop Lt. Anthony Duff and Alderman Greg Morehead said the bar continues to pose neighborhood and policing problems. The club is a site for loitering, littering, fights, and sometimes gunfire, Duff said.
Butta J’s is located at the nexus of a revived residential section of the Dixwell neighborhood and Science Park. It is an area of particular interest to Science Park and to the city. The Board of Aldermen on Monday approved a proposal allowing Science Park to create a daycare center diagonally across from the bar.
So when a public notice appeared several weeks ago that Butta J’s was seeking permission to have exotic dancing, Science Park teamed up with the city’s Office of Economic Development, Yale University, and neighbors to oppose the request. The bar was also looking for permission to have comedians and live acoustic acts.
“We don’t think this is good for the neighborhood,” said David Silverstone, president of the Science Park Development Corporation.
Science Park hired attorney Carolyn Kone to draft an official remonstrance opposing Butta J’s application to the state. The document was submitted on Monday. It’s signed by Lt. Duff, Alderman Morehead, Mayor DeStefano, as well as neighbors and Yale and Science Park officials. Read it here.
The six-page document says exotic dancing at the bar would “have a detrimental effect upon churches, schools and charitable institutions.” Among the affected local institutions would be the Montery Place housing projects, the Farmington Canal Greenway, Wexler-Grant School, Science Park, and the nine churches within a half-mile of the bar, the filing states.
Further, Butta J’s “has been conducted as a lewd of disorderly establishment,” the letter reads. The police department sees it as a “hot spot” for crime. There was a murder at the bar in April 2008, and there have been numerous fights, lots of noise, and gunfire, the document says. Exotic dancing would exacerbate these problems, the letter argues.
The remonstrance is accompanied by a letters of objection from the Dixwell Community Management Team and from Michael Morand, associate vice president at Yale. Also included is a letter from Deputy Director of Zoning Thomas Talbot, stating that allowing exotic dancing would be an extension of non-conforming property use.
The bar has for years been a source of littering, noise, public urination, gunfire and “fights that start at that club and end elsewhere,” Duff said. “The clientele attracted to that club poses a challenge.”
Butta J’s has been a drain on police resources, Duff said. He said he has asked Bellamy to hire extra-duty officers to provide bar security on busy nights. “They flat-out refused.”
Reached by phone on Tuesday, Bellamy sought to put her exotic dancing request in context.
“We don’t want to turn it into a strip club,” she said. There were no plans to have regular stripping at the bar, she said. She said she requested permission for exotic dancing because patrons had requested the option of having strippers at private events, like bachelor parties.
Exotic dancing wouldn’t be “on an everyday basis,” Bellamy said. “We want to keep the bar’s integrity.
“We’re not looking to do that type of amusement in a full time manner at all. We don’t want to cause the police or the neighborhood any hardship.”
Speaking to Lt. Duff’s concerns, Bellamy said loitering is not a problem at the bar, and her staff pick up trash regularly. The bar has its own security and can’t afford to hire extra-duty officers, she said.
Later, after speaking with Lt. Duff herself, Bellamy said she plans to withdraw the exotic dancing request.
“We do respect how the neighbors feel,” she said. “We’re not trying to ruin the neighborhood.”
Bellamy said she plans to go forward with the other two parts of her request to the Department of Consumer Protection. She still wants to be able to have comedy and acoustic acts at the bar.
She held out the possibility of reapplying for exotic dancing permission in the future. “Maybe after proving ourselves to the neighborhood,” she said.
But the bar has a significant reputation to live down. Even without exotic dancing, Lt. Duff said, “My concerns will still be the same in terms of quality of life.” He said he would still like to see extra-duty officers at the bar. “We’re looking at that establishment to be a good neighbor.”
“There’s always going to be question with Butta J’s,” Alderman Morehead said. There have historically been fights and violence outside the club. “Exotic dancing was just the icing on the cake.”
“The Exotic dancing was beyond the pale,” Silverstone said. He said Bellamy’s request for permission to have comedy and acoustic acts is still an extension of a nonconforming use.
Claudette Carveth, spokesperson for the Department of Consumer Protection, said a public hearing will be held on Butta J’s proposal. She declined further comment.
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The Cardinals, Butta J's, whatever you wanna call it needs to be shut down. The neighbors need to get together and do like what was down to the Taurus. With all of the development that is going on, the Cardinal's brings down the value for that neighborhood. In black areas, there are nightclubs on every other block. They will not be missed! Shut em down