At site of possible strip club in Mendon, construction has started.
MENDON — After 15 years of applications, lawsuits and traffic studies, a strip club approved for Milford Street is seeing some movement.
Town Planner Jack Hunter said construction has begun at 49 Milford St. (Route 16) for a 4,806-square-foot adult entertainment club with a capacity of 165 patrons. The site is expected to provide valet parking to prevent customers from gathering at the back of the building, the project's attorney, Thomas Lesser, said during a past Select Board meeting.
The proposal, from Sutton-based Showtime Entertainment, LLC, was approved by Mendon's three-member Select Board in February 2022.
The club will be managed by Showtime Entertainment owner George Funari, who also owns the Milford Street property (he formerly ran a landscaping business there). A previous building was demolished to accommodate the new club.
Permission to move forward: Mendon Select Board OKs strip club proposal's application, license
Neither Funari nor his attorney, Lesser, could be reached for comment.
Construction was estimated to take anywhere from 12-18 months, according to past meetings regarding the club. The club is defined as a nude strip club, in which performers strip naked toward the end of their dances.
Mendon Building Commissioner John Erickson told the Daily News that he issued Showtime a building permit in January to construct a shell for the new building. Erickson followed up via email indicating the permit was only to construct a weather-tight building, and did not not allow for interior work to be performed.
Tenant fit-out, including mechanical, electrical and plumbing, fire protection and energy code compliance, must be submitted in a separate application, according to the permit. Erickson said Funari has not yet applied for fit-out.
Mendon strip club is 15 years in development
Showtime Entertainment's first proposal came before the town in September 2008, but was denied a month later. At the time, a citizens action committee called Speak Out Mendon rallied against the proposal and petitioned the Select Board to enact and amend regulations for adult businesses in the town, including banning the presence or sale of alcohol. The regulations also limited the building's size and club operating hours.
The town enacted and amended the bylaws as proposed by residents. A May 2008 Town Meeting vote had established Mendon's Adult Entertainment Overlay District. The attorney general issued an opinion approving them, but noted they were susceptible to a constitutional challenge, according to the lawsuit.
Second attempt: Strip club proposal in Mendon struts forward
Two years later, Showtime submitted a new application in response to the new bylaws, and it was approved by the town in May 2010. The Select Board then granted Showtime an adult entertainment license under the new bylaws.
Showtime filed a lawsuit against the town, arguing that the restrictions placed on the license were unconstitutional limitations on freedom of expression. Robert Mangiaratti, then Mendon's town counsel, stated at the time that the bylaw prevented the "explosive combination" of adult entertainment and intoxication.
A federal district judge ruled in the town's favor.
Court decisions eventually favor club proposal
Showtime appealed the ruling, and in October 2014, the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the town's regulations on building size and operating hours were unconstitutional. The alcohol ban provision was transferred to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court because it was challenged as a state, not federal, law.
In 2015, Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the bylaw banning adult entertainment in establishments that are licensed to serve alcohol was "substantially broader than necessary." The case was remanded to the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.
In November of that year, the District Court accepted the rulings of the U.S. Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of Showtime.
The proposal came back before the Select Board, which requested a traffic study in September 2021. Lesser told the board at the time that the new study yielded similar results to the previous one, and showed the club would have no effect on area traffic.
Lesser said traffic in the area is very high around standard peak hours, specifically between 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., but declines after 6 p.m. Most adult entertainment patrons don't hit the road until after 8 p.m., when there’s even less traffic, he said during the September 2021 Select Board meeting.
The Showtime Entertainment club would hire 24 employees, officials have said. The club is proposed to be open at least six days a week form noon to 1 a.m., with police details proposed for Thursday through Saturday. There would also be an on-site security person hired by the club.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Work underway at proposed Mendon strip club location
