MILFORD, PA – Despite concern about alleged irregularities in its business-license application and its location possibly being too near a public park, Coyotes Show Club and the township of Milford, PA struck an 11th-hour deal that will erase Coyotes’ lawsuit against the township and may allow the cabaret to continue operating.On Tuesday, Coyotes’ attorney said the cabaret had received word the Milford Board of Supervisors was willing to consider the cabaret’s application to operate a gentlemen’s club; consequently the club would drop its lawsuit against the township. The lawsuit, alleging Milford’s zoning ordinances are unconstitutional, was filed in November, before the club opened on December 14th. It was scheduled to go to trial Wednesday.
In addition, township officials have agreed to throw out a pair of restraining orders, one federal and one local, that prohibited Coyotes from offering erotic entertainment. The move will allow the club to continue operating while supervisors consider the adult-business-license application, which must be submitted by Friday and could be heard as early as February 7th.
The deal was the result of negotiations the township initiated last week in order to avoid the costs of litigation and move the matter back into local hands, according to Supervisor Robert Mansfield. It requires township officials to vote on the club’s license application by March 28th. If the license is denied, Coyotes could take its grievances back to court.
Mansfield also said both parties agreed not to sue for legal fees and other damages that may have arisen during the six-week legal battle.
At the heart of the matter is whether Coyotes is located in an appropriate area. The club sits within the town’s commercial district, where adult entertainment is allowed, but it may be too near a township park to offer adult entertainment. When Coyotes opened, it was with a restaurant-and-bar permit only, although the cabaret immediately began offering adult entertainment because it believed it was justified in doing so while its lawsuit was before the federal court, attorney Glenn McGogney said.
In December, Milford filed two separate suits against Coyotes one week apart. Both resulted in injunctions barring adult entertainment on the property pending the outcome of Coyotes’ suit against the township.
