Haverhill club can open, but go-go is a no-go

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus

January 26, 2012

By Shawn Regan sregan@eagletribune.com The Eagle Tribune Thu Jan 26, 2012, 03:08 AM EST

HAVERHILL — Vanity Night Club has been given the green light for its grand opening party tomorrow night, minus the go-go dancers and scantily-clad paid performers the venue has been promoting in flyers and on the Internet.

The club's owner, promoter and lawyer talked the License Commission out of suspending the club's entertainment license at a meeting yesterday morning on alleged license violations and possible criminal infractions.

Police Detective John Spero told commissioners that he and another uniformed officer visited the club at the back of the Academy Plaza strip mall Sept. 16 and observed a female employee wearing a small bikini top and thong underwear dancing on a table with customers crowded around her drinking alcohol and taking photographs. Spero said the woman's buttocks were "entirely exposed."

The officers were in the club for about seven minutes before they had to leave for another service call, Spero said.

Lt. Robert Pistone told the commission he believes the activity was a violation of club owner Holly D'Angelo's entertainment license as well as the state's open and gross lewdness law. That law is defined as intentional exposing of buttocks, genitals or female breasts in public.

The Sept. 16 show, which police said was advertised as "Marco's Birthday Bash," happened when the club was called Club Irge at the same 717 So. Main St. address. D'Angelo said she closed Club Irge to renovate the building after a party there New Year's Eve. She received permission from the commission in November to reopen the business as Vanity Night Club.

Commissioners said they could have punished D'Angelo because she is not licensed to have paid dancers or a disc jockey.

"What you have been doing is in violation of your license and good taste," commission Chairman Joseph Edwards told D'Angelo. "And it's not going to happen here."

But after D'Angelo said she would no longer feature go-go dancers or promote that kind of activity, the commission granted her a temporary disc jockey license so she can open tomorrow. The license is conditioned on D'Angelo meeting with police prior to tomorrow night to brief them on the club's operation and crowd-control measures.

D'Angelo, who is from Methuen, said she has been using disc jockeys for several years without a license because she never knew she needed to specify that activity on her application.

Commissioners said the fact D'Angelo has a spotless record while managing nightclubs in Haverhill since 2009 factored heavily in their decision not to penalize her or to delay the club's opening.

Edwards also asked D'Angelo to eliminate any depictions of scantily-clad women and alcohol from future promotional material for club events.

Also at the hearing, police raised concerns about D'Angelo partnering with promoter Grind78 Entertainment, which Pistone said has promoted clubs in Lawrence with histories of problems. Pistone said the company has promoted events in Lawrence including pole dancing and "best booty" competitions.

"We have limited resources to deal with problems and crowd control due to budget cuts," Pistone said. "Our fear is this promoter are going to be mixing large crowds with alcohol and we're going to end up with out-of-control situations."

Grind78 Entertainment's Marco Joubert told the commission he intends to run "a clean operation."

"I'm not trying to bring trouble or negativity to Haverhill," said Joubert, who told commissioners he lives in Haverhill and was born and raised here. "I'm very strict at my events. There's a dress code and we're careful not to let anyone under 21 in. We had more than 300 people at the (Sept. 16) show and there were no problems or calls to police."

Donald Sheldon, a lawyer who owns Academy Plaza and is D'Angelo's landlord, also spoke on her behalf. Sheldon said he keeps a close eye on his property and would evict Sheldon if she was involved in illicit or illegal activity.

"It's not a strip club," Sheldon said of the business in the city's Bradford section. "It's a clean operation. I'm on top of it."

The commission is scheduled take up alleged violations of Vanity's liquor license at its Feb. 9 meeting.

• • •

Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.