Entrepreneur Gary DeMone is trying to open a new strip club in the municipality. But the establishment is highlighting inconsistencies in the municipality’s zoning.
By Erin O'Halloran <littleohalloran@hotmail.com>
Posted: Nov. 10, 2005
Little Nashville country western bar on Wyse Rd. in Dartmouth is under new owership and will be HRM's newest strip club
Gary DeMone knows a few things about running a business. He’s the general manager of a few places in Halifax, including the Ranch restaurant, Club 5171 and Atlantis Steak and Lobster Co. restaurant.
DeMone ran a few strip clubs in Montreal and Quebec City for two and a half years. He said starting a club or restaurant is hard enough in Halifax, let alone a strip club.
"Everyone wants them [strip clubs], just not in their community," DeMone said. "Socially, they associate strip clubs with bike gangs, the underworld so to speak, and in some cases that's true, but again, a lot of them are legitimate businesses and run that way."
After working in the service industry for most of his life, he’s taking over former country bar Little Nashville, on Wyse Road in Dartmouth and turning it into a strip club.
He plans to staff the club with 35 to 40 people when it opens. But the news has been public for only two days and already he’s hearing from opponents.
Trying to make it even harder
Councillor Jim Smith, who represents District 9 in north Dartmouth, said he would like to make it very difficult for strip clubs to open in the municipality by allowing strip clubs to operate only in one zone. If one were to open, the business could apply to make their location compliant with that zone and there would be a public hearing. Smith said the problem right now that only the liquor board and the utility board have a say, not the community.
The Halifax and Bedford areas have strict bylaws against strip clubs in the area. Smith says there is a place for strip clubs, but not near residential areas like that of the Little Nashville location.
The Halifax Regional Municipality's zoning regulations were set before the city's amalgamation. Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, and the surrounding areas all have different zoning regulations and development bylaws.
Wyse Road in Dartmouth, where DeMone's new business will open, is a C2 zone. This type of zone is open for most any kind of business, under the stipulation that it is neither "obnoxious nor hazardous." Cathy Spencer, a development technician for the municipality who oversees the Dartmouth area, said that if the proposed business becomes obnoxious or hazardous it will have to apply for a C4 zoning or the proper zoning for an adult massage parlour. Currently no C4 zones exist in Dartmouth. If DeMone were forced to apply, the decision would be made through a public forum, open to comment and suggestion.
DeMone is currently switching the Little Nashville liquor and cabaret licenses into his name.
DeMone said he has to fight tooth and nail to start a business in Halifax.
"I'm not looking at doing just one of these. I want to branch out to other clubs. I've been in this business a long time and it's about time it pays off."
DeMone said if there is no market for his club then it will simply go under. Which he doesn't think is the case. DeMone is currently renovating the club. Fresh paint, building a menu and kitchen, and focusing on making the bar and the stage the two focal points of the club are the immediate tasks. DeMone is changing the country western motif into a casual, comfortable bar that "won't be flashy," he said.
After the transformation, Little Nashville will be The Dollhouse, set to open around Dec. 1.
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