November 06, 2024
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Diva’s fight with city goes on; Benjamin’s owner to pay fine

BANGOR – One downtown Bangor club owner pleaded guilty Friday in 3rd District Court to violating the city’s ban on nude dancing while another filed a motion to dismiss the charge, claiming the ordinance is unconstitutional.

Timothy Schuck, owner of Benjamin’s Tavern & Bistro, agreed to pay a $600 fine in connection with a June 9 male revue held at the Franklin Street club. The city claimed male strippers showed “portions of the genitals, pubic hair and buttocks.” Schuck did not dispute the charges Friday.

Diva’s owner, Diane Cormier-Youngs, did not appear in court, but attorneys for the city filed a response to her motion to dismiss the charges. Judge Ronald Russell predicted it would be fall before he could rule on the matter.

In what she called “an act of civil disobedience,” Cormier-Youngs said earlier this month that she knowingly violated the ordinance on June 22. She also is challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance in U.S. District Court.

In a stipulation of facts filed in the District Court case Friday, Cormier-Youngs agreed that dancers at Diva’s had performed “topless with G-string thongs that exposed the buttocks” on four occasions since the first citation. Diva’s special amusement permit allows the club to remain downtown as long as her dancers wear bikinis with bottoms that cover the buttocks.

The City Council last month rejected holding a public hearing on revoking or suspending Diva’s and Benjamin’s special amusement permits until after the owners’ court date. City Solicitor Norm Heitmann said Friday that the council could reconsider that decision if violations at Diva’s continue. He said that without a special amusement permit, clubs cannot offer live entertainment.

John Hamer, assistant city solicitor, predicted that the case would be appealed by Cormier-Youngs to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. In the meantime, Bangor police will continue to monitor performances at Diva’s to see if dancers continue to violate the ordinance, he said.


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