BANGOR – Despite pleas not to do so from opponents that included members of the clergy and mental health field, city councilors voted Monday night 5-4 to change the city’s rules on nude entertainment, lifting Bangor’s 6-year-old ban on the combination of nudity and alcohol.

The measure essentially paves the way for Platinum Plus, a South Carolina-based chain, to open one of its “upscale gentlemen’s clubs” in the former Pilots Grill restaurant, which has been on the market for more than a year. The club features topless dancers.

The topic of adult entertainment businesses has generated more than a little controversy in past years, and Monday’s meeting, which drew at least 70 people on both sides of the issue, was no exception. The crowd filled the council chamber at City Hall, spilling out into the hallway beyond.

Given the strong feelings on the issue on either side, the decision wasn’t a comfortable one for the councilors, whose close vote followed more than three hours of discussion and public comment Monday night as well as two previous rounds of discussion at the committee level.

Monday’s vote, however, does not mean that Diva’s Gentlemen’s Club on State Street can offer the combination. Diva’s, city officials said earlier, is located in the downtown development district and as such, is not eligible.

The city’s existing adult entertainment policy, adopted in May 1998, allowed nudity or alcoholic beverages but not both. At issue was whether Bangor should allow the combination, and the council voted that it would.

The issue returned to the forefront in late January at the request of Platinum Plus. The chain’s current northernmost location is in Portland.

The chain’s plans are to purchase the former Pilots Grill restaurant on Outer Hammond Street. Property owner and former restaurateur Bill Zoidis said the former restaurant has been on the market for more than a year.

Opponents of the Platinum Plus proposal were unhappy with the council’s decision.

“I’m very disappointed. I think that there were personal pressures involved that did not serve the councilors well to follow,” said the Rev. Brian Nolder, pastor of Pilgrim Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Bangor. Nolder was among dozens of opponents who attended the meeting and among several clergymen, including the Rev. Jerry Mick of the Bangor Baptist Church and the Rev. James Haddix of All Souls Congregational Church, also in Bangor.

Voting in favor of the change were Council Chairman Dan Tremble and Councilors John Cashwell, Peter D’Errico, David Nealley and Richard Greene. Opposing it were Councilors Anne Allen, Frank Farrington, Geoffrey Gratwick and Gerry Palmer.

Despite the vote, the matter might not yet be resolved. Immediately after the vote, Palmer moved that the nine-member panel revisit its decision. Allen seconded his motion.

Though Palmer’s attempt failed by one vote, Chairman Tremble has the authority to convene a special council meeting within 10 days to revisit the issue. Tremble had not yet made a decision on calling such a meeting as of press time.

One piece of information that appeared to play into the decision, at least as far as opponents were concerned, came from Councilor Gratwick, who described his recent visit to Platinum Plus’ Portland club.

While there to educate himself, Gratwick said he witnessed a dancer and a patron simulating oral copulation. What appeared to bother Gratwick and several other councilors who alluded to it was the chain management’s inability to offer a reasonable explanation for the behavior.

Kevin Fox, the chain’s general manager, said that the club frequently featured performers who were part of its stable of regular dancers. But sometimes the club features performers from out of state who don’t know the rules of decorum in Maine.