Go Go Danny's goes to court

Key issue in Middle Smithfield Township: Was it always a bar?

March 15, 2014

A recently opened basement go-go bar its purpose, history, ownership, reconstruction and ultimately, its legality was the subject of a court hearing Friday attended by a dozen past and present Middle Smithfield Township officials.

At issue is whether former township supervisor Bob Spano Sr. had the right to open "Go Go Danny's" last month on his Werry's Motel complex, even as Spano and two New Jersey developers try to win final approval for a strip club on the same property.

Monroe County Judge Arthur Zulick granted a temporary injunction last week that closed the basement bar pending outcome of the case.

He heard competing assertions from township attorney Michael Gaul and defense attorney Marshall Anders about whether the room had always been a bar not requiring a new township permit or was a converted storage area that never received required township approvals.

Zoning Officer Shawn McGlynn said he found a 2008 certificate of non-comformance issued before passage of the current zoning ordinance that would allow Spano's companies to continue to operate facilities in place then. But the certificate made no provision for a second Werry's bar in the basement, he testified.

Related site plans didn't provide for additional parking required for a another bar, he added.

"There is one pub there," McGlynn said. "There is not a second bar or bar area."

Said Anders: "He doesn't know how that came about. He was not the zoning officer at that time."

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Go Go Danny's goes to court