Codes Compliance Archived

1239 4th Ave. South, Saint Petersburg, Florida Show on Map Hide Map
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Issue ID:

4548554

Submitted To:

City of St. Petersburg

Category:

Codes Compliance

Viewed:

413 times

Neighborhood:

St. Petersburg

Reported:

on

Duplicate of:

4158950

Description

WHEN ARE THINGS GOING TO CHANGE!!!!?????
From the newspaper "Records show officers have been dispatched 21 times to the business at 1239 Fourth St. S since the start of 2018 to investigate complaints such as illegal parking, noise, domestic battery, criminal mischief and large crowds. There was a stretch when police visited the club nine times in five days.

Code enforcement inspectors have also been busy there. They have not sanctioned the Sugar Room for operating as an unpermitted strip club, however, even though its Facebook page bills itself as "Tampa Bay’s newest adult attraction," and features photos of scantily-clad women, some bathed in dollar bills.

Instead, code enforcement believes it’s more effective to pursue these other violations against the business: for performing construction without a permit; for operating as a bar when it’s only zoned as a restaurant; and for painting an unpermitted sign on the side of the building, city records show.

They issued the construction violation on Feb. 7 after they said the operators ripped out a wall between two units without a permit. To comply, the owners would have to either get an after-the-fact permit for the work, or get a permit to return the building to its original state.

And even though the club owners do have a state-issued liquor license, the building isn’t zoned to operate as a bar or nightclub. Inspectors dinged it with that violation after they noticed the kitchen had been removed.

"So there’s no way they could operate as a restaurant right now," said James Corbett, the city’s director of codes compliance assistance.

He said the city could issue the club a citation for being an unapproved adult venue in the future but "I think we have enough right now to say the business should not be operating as it is."

The next step for the club’s operators is to appear before the Code Enforcement Board’s April 25 hearing. The Sugar Room’s operators could not be reached for comment Monday.

Police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said the department has also taken action against the club, sending a letter warning the operator that it has received complaints of narcotic activity, and that the operator needs to submit a plan to police explaining how they’re going to clean up their act.

The deadline passed last week, however, and the Sugar Room submitted no plan. The next step for police will likely be having the club deemed a chronic nuisance by the Nuisance Abatement Board, which could result in fines.

It’s unclear when the Sugar Room opened for business. Its Facebook page said it opened in December, but police believe it opened on Feb. 1. The business has been known as "Jeff’s" and "The Porch" in the past.

The man killed there early Monday, Long, was sentenced in 2007 to spend 10 years in prison on drug charges such as trafficking cocaine and the possession and sale of heroin.

also asked...
Q. What are you reporting?
A. Construction without permit

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