Residents Don't Want West End To Become 'Red Light District'

Residents Oppose Proposed Strip Club On West Carson Street

POSTED: 10:01 pm EDT March 15, 2010
UPDATED: 3:44 am EDT March 16, 2010

PITTSBURGH -- Residents of Pittsburgh's West End continued their ongoing protest against a proposed strip club on West Carson Street Monday night.

The City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted 9-0 to deny a permit to build the club in November 2008, but one was still issued, prompting residents to ask "why?"

Pittsburgh City Council was supposed to hold a public hearing after the planning commission denied the permit in 2008, but never received the proper paperwork. As result, the property owner appealed to a common pleas judge, who granted a conditional permit for the strip club.

An attorney from the city solicitor's office told the judge those who had objected at the planning commission hearing had been notified about the court date, but that apparently didn't happen.

"That's what was represented to the court by the city solicitor, so either the city solicitor did not know what he or she was doing or they lied," said city councilman Doug Shields. "Somebody's lying folks, and I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I'm telling you right now I am going to get to the bottom of this."

Shields said he could file malpractice charges against the city solicitor for failing to represent city council, but that residents may not be able to stop the impending strip club from happening.

"The East End has seen major improvement in and around Bakery Square. The West end has seen an increase in absentee landlords and building code violations. We should not be the forgotten stepchild of the city. Our development should be headed in that direction, not in becoming a red light district," Debbie Whitfield.

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