Some townships have zoning and others do not; Conneaut Township does not have zoning, thus leaving it open to businesses that may cause controversy among residents.

The February meeting of the Conneaut Township Board of Supervisors was brought to order and the Pledge of Allegiance was said. Supervisors in attendance were George Greig and Tim Greig.

Supervisor Jake Lisbon was absent, due to health reasons. Secretary Telce McCann took the minutes and there were 7 concerned citizens present.

Public Participation was on the agenda, and George Greig indicated that he understood why some of the people were there at this particular meeting.

It seems Wally Bolharsky of "Wally’s Paradise" topless bar may want to move his establishment from Rt. 6, west of Linesville over to the Train Depot on west Center Road, across from the lumber mill and down the road from what was once known as Center Road Tavern.

His plan is to run an antique shop on the bottom floor and a topless bar on the top floor.

Supervisor Greig stated that not only had he been contacted, but the township Solicitor, Alan Shaddinger had also been contacted by concerned citizens about this matter.

After much discussion, Shaddinger drafted a letter to the Supervisors for them to approve.

The letter was read aloud at the meeting

Questions were asked on whether Wally had sold the business on Rt. 6; no one knew for sure, though several citizens mentioned that someone from Ohio had bought it and was going to make a bigger and better topless club at that location.

The question was brought up on whether the state’s Department of Labor and Industry could be summoned in to inspect that business as well, along with the Train Depot.

The answer is yes, they can, as the township has opted out of the building code program as of last fall, and all commercial businesses have to go through Labor and Industry to be certified.

Another question came up about fixing current problems at these locations, such as roofing and plumbing, but not following through and the place sits for 6 months or so; can anything revert to a Grandfather Clause?

Greig replied he would have to speak to the Solicitor.

Residents wanted to know whether anything had been in any of the papers about Wally B., the Train Depot, the antique shop or the club out on Rt. 6. No one seems to know anything.

There has been nothing from Steve Petrus, owner and contact at the Train Depot building.

Another question that came up was whether Wally B. could open up the antique shop/topless bar without any indoor bathrooms. It is uncertain what facilities are currently at the Train Depot.

The Solicitor said that everything would have to meet state code for businesses, including handicap accessible facilities and meet all the fire code standards.

Someone wanted to know if the stages in the club would be handicapped accessible, also, in the event that a physically challenged dancer in a wheelchair might want to apply at Wally’s for a job.

The next question was, why didn’t the township stop Wally in the first place when he opened the topless bar out on Rt. 6.

Greig replied that CT isn’t zoned, so unless the establishment was within 100 yards of a school, church or daycare, officials didn’t have any authority to prevent it from opening.

This is why it is important for citizens to attend monthly Supervisor meetings in their respective townships.

He went on to say that Erie County had encountered the same problem and had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to get two topless bars out of Erie and failed to do so.

A citizen wondered if the township had the authority to set hours of operation for such an establishment. The answer from the Solicitor was, yes, within reason.