FALL RIVER, MA — Business owners are worried that the opening of a strip club in an industrial park may drive businesses from the area in spite of the fact that a strip club is a business. Yesterday, the Fall City City Council met to discuss non-adult business owner concerns about a possible strip club giving jobs and stimulating the economy from the industrial park location. Many told councilors that they feared the tax and wage paying establishment might keep other companies from taking up residence in the region, thus costing the city jobs and income.
Fall River Area Chamber president Robert Mellion insisted that “there must be other solutions,” while a local business CEO urged the council to not “take the easy route.”
While some may think that “the easy route” is to turn away a perfectly legal business capable of providing jobs to locals, nobody in attendance was able to propose a more suitable location for the club
With no solutions offered, the council opted to table the matter and revisit it at a currently undetermined time. The public feedback period has been closed and a vote on the matter may take as much as 21 days to manifest.
If the club is allowed to open in the industrial park, it would include the Blount Seafood and Hatch Science businesses as hostile neighbors within the 28-parcel district. Hatch owner Martin Schwalm shared his fears that board members might order him to relocate if the dance club opens, because other erotically themed businesses including swinger clubs might also decide to move into the area.
Councilor Steven A. Camara considers the park to be the best possible place for an adult business, much preferred over a zone near residential areas. Camara has proposed that the 158-acre area’s zoning classification be changed from industrial to light business, which would allow fast food restaurants and banks to open without needing a zoning variance.
Assistant corporation counsel John J. Coughlin cautioned that the area may be too small, given that it is close to the minimum size allowed for development.
Although business owners are not wild about the idea, some residential groups lauded the idea of allowing adult businesses into the industrial park area instead of near home, calling the idea “a neighborhood protection ordinance.”
