It also comes at a time when township officials have plans to overhaul their decades-old zoning rules. Township trustees are scheduled to vote Thursday on a six-month moratorium on automobile-related businesses as they seek to hire a consultant to recommend changes to their land use plan and zoning code.
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In addition to adult entertainment, parts of the Dixie strip were dominated by used car dealers. Possibly half a dozen or more were either shut down or displaced by the tornado.
“We’re going to take a look at all those types of uses,” said Township Administrator Kris McClintock.
He said the review was planned before the storm as they have worked to improve the area for the roughly 11,000 people who live in Northridge.
Living Room demolished
The last two adult entertainment clubs in the township before the storm were EC Club – formerly Plush Gentlemen’s Club — on Wagner Ford Road, and The Living Room on Dixie. Both had lost their liquor licenses but continued to operate as dance clubs until the storm.
The building that housed The Living Room has since been demolished. Property owner Jim Zeller said neither The Living Room nor the Naughty & Nice adult toy store next door will come back to that location.
“We haven’t decided what we’re doing to do with that spot,” Zeller said. “We have some ideas.”
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The listed owner of the business did not return calls asking if they plan to relocate elsewhere. Under current Harrison Twp. zoning laws, they would have to relocate between Needmore Road and Stop 8 Road if they want to stay in the township.
Next door to The Living Room was a larger, 58,000-square-foot shopping complex that housed a Family Dollar, beauty supply company, tax preparer and more. Zeller said they were able to tear down the tornado-damaged property but are still in negotiations with their insurance company.
“I think there’s a viable opportunity here for retail in that location and there’s a lot of needs in the community that could be met there,” Zeller said. “A lot of customers in the area have expressed concern about different tenants they visited frequently they’d love to see come back.”
Club to re-open
The Ohio Division of Liquor Control cancelled the liquor license of Plush Gentlemen’s Club in April. The business re-opened about a month before the storm under the name EC Club, which was forced to shut down because of tornado damage.
Property owner Mike Sharraq said his plan at this point is to open “an upscale gentlemen’s club,” though he has no name for it yet.
“It’s a good location. It’s been there for a long time. It’s had different operators over the years and we’re basically going to change the venue a little bit to make it more of an upper-class, high-class gentlemen’s club,” he said. “We’re the last man standing.”
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Sharraq owns Sirens Gentlemen’s Club in Columbus and said such businesses aren’t a problem if they follow the laws and don’t allow improper behavior.
The crackdown on other Harrison Twp. strip clubs involved Ohio State Highway Patrol investigations that found things such as improper contact with patrons and drug use. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office objected to Plush’s business license after responding to 189 calls at the club in 2018.
“We operate things properly, within the law. As long as you do things properly, within the law, you’re fine,” Sharraq said.
Because Plush was grandfathered in under the previous zoning change, an adult-oriented business is allowed to remain at that location as long as they re-open within two years, according to township zoning officials.
“If someone offered me a decent amount, I’d sell the building,” Sharraq said. “But as of right now we haven’t had any decent offers so we’re planning to reopen.”
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