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Baltimore City Tries To Temporarily Shut Down Club

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Oct 21, 2009 6:45 pm US/Eastern

Baltimore City Tries To Temporarily Shut Down Club

Reporting
Derek Valcourt
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― A Mount Vernon nightclub may soon be forced to shut its doors if the city police commissioner has his way.

The Suite Ultra Lounge has been at the center of debate over public safety in that community for more than a year now.

Derek Valcourt reports police are using a special city ordinance to do something about it.

Behind the doors of the club that police call a public nuisance, in the basement of the Belvedere Hotel, owners of the Suite Ultra Lounge may soon find padlocks on their doors.

The police commissioner sent a letter calling for a public nuisance hearing to determine if the club should be padlocked shut by the city.

Neighbors in Mount Vernon hope it happens.

"We hear complaints about this every time the Suite Ultra Lounge has an event in their space," said Jason Curtis, Mt. Vernon-Belvedere Association.

Mt. Vernon residents packed into a meeting this summer to complain about crime near the club.

"When we have a club owner that is not a good neighbor and has presented harm to the residents and the businesses in the neighborhood, we need to stand up and say, 'Hey you have to do what's right or we are going to challenge your right to be here in our neighborhood,' and that's where we are," said Curtis.

Police say there have been three crimes of violence in and near the club in the last 19 months, including a teenager shot and others robbed and mugged.

"Businesses have an obligation to make sure their neighborhoods are safe, and they can make sure the type of clientele that they are serving are reputable. They can remove people from their premises. They can step up and be a better part of the community," said Anthony Guglielmi, police spokesman.

"It's really provided some very negative issues in that community, so padlocking is the way that we have to go," said Mayor Sheila Dixon.

For now, there's no padlocks on the doors until after an independent arbitrator makes a decision on whether the nightclub is a public nuisance. That won't happen until a hearing on Nov. 16.
 
Phone calls to attorneys for the club's owner were not returned.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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