The owner of a downtown Ansonia nightclub is out of business after his landlord served him with an eviction notice and the city asked a judge to prevent the club from hosting late night parties.
In addition, police seized the liquor permit for Savor Lounge at 370 E. Main St. Dec. 26., just before an “All You Can Drink” party was set to start.
Holiday revelers were scheduled to beat the bass until 3 a.m.
“There was an issue that night before they even opened,” Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale said. “There was confusion as to who exactly was running the place, so my supervisor just seized their liquor permit.”
Savor hasn’t been open since.
Background
Savor Lounge opened last May and immediately attracted the attention of cops due to the “large, unruly” crowds that would spill onto East Main Street late night every Friday and Saturday.
The city cited the property under a chronic nuisance ordinance days after a Nov. 22 closing time brawl during which a woman was grazed by a bullet.
Last month the city upped the ante by filing a request at Superior Court in Milford asking a judge to issue a restraining order preventing the club from operating, citing “an increasingly serious threat” to patrons, police, and the public.
No More Savor
A hearing is scheduled for Monday (Jan. 11) regarding the city’s request, but Ansonia officials plan on dropping the case after the property’s owner sent them a Jan. 4 agreement in which the club’s owner, Tadjwid Wilson, relinquished his lease.
The property is owned by a limited liability company under the control of James Puleri, a Newtown resident with a business address in Oxford.
Savor itself is owned by Savor Lounge LLC. Wilson, a New Haven resident, is the only member listed on business records.
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The Valley Indy left a voicemail for Wilson Wednesday, and also reached out to the club’s Facebook page.
The club continued to host late night parties even after the city cited the property as a “chronic nuisance” in November — and cops kept being called to the business.
Fights at the club on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 resulted in eight arrests alone, according to court documents filed by the city.
The city said the crowds exiting the club every weekend night were so large that “all on duty officers are required to be in the location of the property” to deal with “rowdy, violent behavior, disorderly conduct, loud music … thereby preventing the Ansonia Police Department from patrolling any other area of the city during those hours.”
Because the parties didn’t stop after the property was cited as a nuisance, Mayor David Cassetti said he instructed John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, to file the request for an injunction.
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’A Tough Space’
“We wanted them to pack it up,” Cassetti said Wednesday. “There were some pretty serious issues over there.”
Cassetti said he was particularly upset because Wilson, during a meeting with city officials Nov. 23, denied shots had been fired in the club the night before.
Three days later, cops executed a search warrant and dug a bullet out of the club’s dance floor.
“After the shooting, and seeing the increasingly severe incidents — brawls, public disturbances, traffic violations and all of this activity in our downtown — essentially we said ‘Enough’s enough.’ We have to draw the line somewhere,” Marini said. “This activity does not belong in our downtown.”
While Savor has agreed to leave the property, Cassetti and other city officials say they want to make sure the same sort of activity doesn’t return with a new tenant.
“We’re working with the owner of the property very closely, and he has the same interest that we do to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Hale said.
The two-story building is nearly 8,000 square feet, according to city land records.
It used to be the home of Lanza’s, a bar-restaurant, and Mustang Sally’s, a country bar. Both failed to attract crowds to the large venue.
The mayor suggested subdividing the property and leasing it to several tenants, instead of trying to bring in another club.
“It’s a tough space,” Cassetti said.
Joe Romanello, a Danbury lawyer who represents Puleri, the property’s owner, said he and his client will listen to whatever suggestions the city makes.
Romanello was in the process of evicting Savor from 370 E. Main St. on Puleri’s behalf, but the Jan. 4 agreement mooted that process.
The lawyer said Puleri isn’t dead set on bringing a club back to the space, but will work to ensure the city doesn’t experience the same problems it did with Savor.
“We’re going to put some safeguards in so this doesn’t happen again,” Romanello said.
