Strip club owners lose court battle against Warren

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Written by: 195 on Feb 27, 2012

Warren city officials in 2010 did not illegally halt the expansion of a topless lounge that had been in business for decades, a judge has ruled.

In an opinion issued late last week, Macomb County Circuit Judge Peter Maceroni upheld the unanimous decision by the city’s zoning appeals board in January 2011 that denied a request by Jon Jon’s for a second variance, for construction already completed.

The ZBA asserted that construction at the club, located on Mound Road, south of 12 Mile Road, exceeded the scope of a variance granted in 2009 and that the club thereby relinquished its long-held designation as a non-conforming — but legal — use of property in a commercial district.

Jon Jon’s opened in the mid-1970s. The longtime, majority owner is Victoria Cerrito. Masoud Sesi has a minority share in the business.

Changes to Warren’s zoning ordinance in 1986 regulated sexually oriented businesses including a requirement that such shops be located more than 750 feet from any residential district. Any sexually oriented businesses already operating were deemed “non-conforming” uses that would be permitted to remain open.

In early 2009, the ZBA granted Jon Jon’s requested variance to install an 11.67-by-15-foot addition to the cooler and to increase the height of the roof to no more than 33.5 feet.

City officials argued that the renovations that followed amounted to a virtual demolition and construction of a new and completely differently building. That work included demolition of interior walls, a new façade and 29-foot brick towers topped with simulated flames for the newly named strip club, “Sapphire.”

Warren’s attorneys also claim that the initial value of the project — $375,000 — violated the zoning ordinance because it exceeded the limit of 30 percent of the total true value of the property of non-conforming businesses.

Jon Jon’s lawyers defended the expansion project, emphasizing that the Warren Planning Commission approved the site plan, the Building Department had issued permits allowing the work and that a zoning inspector therefore had no authority to order that the work be stopped.

However, Warren officials countered that those changes were not granted by the ZBA and therefore nullified the nonconforming designation that Jon Jon’s held for decades.

Subsequently, Warren’s chief zoning inspector in August 2010 ordered a stop to the ongoing construction. The building remains unfinished.

Maceroni ruled that Jon Jon’s was not entitled to rely on the commission’s approval of the expansion plan, because only the zoning board could grant variances of the local zoning law.

“It should also be pointed out that Jon Jon’s had three different site plans,” the judge wrote. “By presently seeking a variance in order to continue with the construction set forth in all of its plans, Jon Jon’s acknowledges that it had multiple plans and that its plans had exceeded the scope of the variances approved in January 2009.”

“The conduct complained of (by the city) and the degree of deviation by Jon Jon’s is substantial, intentional and flagrant. When requesting the original variances, Jon Jon’s should have been forthright about the scope of its intended construction project,” Maceroni said.

“It’s what I’ve been saying all along; there’s no way Jon Jon’s could massively expand like they did without violating the law,” said former councilman Mark Liss, who was among the council members who voted against the proposed transfer of the liquor license and adult entertainment permit to Nancy Hakim of Sterling Heights.

“They ignored the zoning ordinance at their peril,” he said.

Reached for comment Saturday, Jon Jon’s attorney Vincenzo Manzella said he had not read Maceroni’s 12-page opinion yet but learned the judge ruled in favor of Warren.

“Obviously I’m disappointed, as I’m sure my client is. We’re going to regroup and see what our next step is,” he said.

Manzella previously told The Macomb Daily that the city’s stop-work order is “an excuse to get rid of a constitutionally protected business from the city of Warren.”

In a separate but related legal dispute, a lawsuit filed by Jon Jon’s in U.S. District Court over the City Council’s rejection of a liquor license transfer has been on hold pending the outcome of the case in Macomb Circuit Court.

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