Downtown Appleton bar faces scrutiny after violation for nude entertainers on premises
APPLETON – Representatives of OB’s Brau Haus at 523 W. College Ave. came under scrutiny Wednesday after the business was the site of a violation for having nude or seminude entertainers on the premises during an ugly sweater party on Dec. 16.
City Clerk Kami Lynch told owner Christopher Nelis that the violation resulted in convictions on April 12 and carries an assessment of 150 demerit points against the business's alcohol license.
Appleton's municipal code calls for the suspension of a license for 10 to 90 days when demerit points total between 150 and 199 within a two-year period.
No complaint has been filed against the business, but that could come at a later date.
The city requires license holders who accrue between 25 and 149 demerit points within a two-year period to appear before the Safety and Licensing Committee to answer questions and inform the committee how they plan to rectify the issues that resulted in the demerit points.
Nelis appeared with his attorney, Steven Jesser. They attributed the incident to a man who promoted the ugly sweater party and his female companion who performed a stunt.
The promoter has been banned from OB's Brau Haus for life, Nelis said.
"I explained explicitly that it is not allowed," Nelis told the committee. "We are not that type of establishment. Our motto is 'Classy, not trashy,' and we do not allow for that type of behavior."
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It's unclear exactly what happened on Dec. 16 to warrant the violation, but there was reference to a 22-second video that was circulated. The Post-Crescent asked for a copy of the police report, and the request was denied due to deliberations over a potential suspension of the alcohol license by the Common Council.
"I can't provide any details regarding the Brau Haus citation because it is now ongoing in proceedings through council," Lt. Meghan Cash said.
The Post-Crescent subsequently filed a formal public records request for the information.
Jesser said he vigorously disagreed with the assessment of demerit points. He described the violation as a "totally unexpected, momentary 22-second event" of which Nelis had no foreknowledge. He said when Nelis met the promoter and woman upon entry to OB's Brau Haus, "they were fully clothed, acting sober and gave (Nelis) no reason to believe that they'd be misbehaving that night."
Jesser also downplayed the incident that resulted in the violation.
"I took a weekend off in March and went down to Key West, and I saw more nudity on the beach at Key West than this young lady displayed," he told the committee.
Nelis disputed that there was nudity.
"She was dressed provocatively, sure," he said, "but at the end of the day, there was also no nudity."
Committee members seemed impressed with the business's response to the incident and the level of security it employs.
"This is a situation where you have a patron just doing something on her own from what I'm gathering," committee member Alex Schultz said.
The city recently suspended the license of Chadwick's bar, 413 W. College Ave., for 10 days after it accumulated 160 demerit points for underage violations within a two-year period. The suspension will run from May 14 through May 23.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Downtown Appleton bar faces scrutiny after violation for nudity
