Logan County Judge/Executive Logan Chick has denied a bar owner’s request for an entertainment licence, which would have allowed her to legally pay pole dancers in her establishment just south of Adairville.
Sheila Haley, the owner of the Tenn-Tucky State Line Tavern, applied for the permit last month and a public meeting was held last week to help settle the issue.
Chick filed his decision on Thursday afternoon.
The seven-page document spells out in great detail Chick’s decision to deny Haley the right to pay pole dancers in her business.
“I must deny this application for an entertainment permit, as certain conditions exist that lead me to believe the proposed establishment could have an irreversible negative impact on the safety and wellbeing of the residents of things county, as well as those who are required to regulate this establishment,” Chick said in the ruling.
The bar has been located on the Kentucky-Tennessee line for well over 50 years and has sold beer from the Tennessee side of the business, while having little commerce on the Kentucky side.
Haley decided to change that when she applied for her entertainment permit. Her business plan was to allow non-nude pole dancing. She has said that the dancers would be clothed in bikinis.
In his denial, Chick said there were questions about whether the pole dancing would actually be occurring in Kentucky - or in neighboring Tennessee.
There is a line painted inside the bar, which represents the state line.
“I was directed to the Logan County Surveyor, Jeff Harris, for an opinion on the actual Kentucky-Tennessee state line and the validity of the marking on the floor of the Tenn-Tucky State Line,” Chick said in his ruling. “it is his opinion that the property owner set up the building on what they believed the state line to be, presumably based upon the line that would be created if State Line Road continued across 431 South.”
Harris stated that “this may be an adequate assumption for daily ‘state line’ needs or knowledge, (but) it is unlikely this represents the true state line.”
Chick’s denial of the permit also questioned the operation of two businesses - one selling beer in Tennessee and the other having pole dancing in Kentucky - under the same roof.
“There is no barrier between the businesses, as the only thing separating the two businesses is the imaginary line created by what the owner presumes to be the Kentucky-Tennessee state line,” Chick said. “Any contention that this building constitutes two separate businesses is a farce.”
Also, Chick referred to multiple court cases which have banned “entertainment of a sexual nature” inside establishments that also serve alcohol.
“Due to the dangerous combination of alcohol and this type of dancing, I feel that I must deny this entertainment permit,” Chick said.
Haley said that she was “most definitely” surprised that her permit was denied by Chick.
She said that she will be appealing the denial and was going to be meeting with a pair of lawyers on Thursday to see the best way to go forward at this point.
“My civil rights have been violated,” Haley said. “(The county) advised me on what to do to get a permit, and I did it and then they didn’t give it to me. My attorney is going to handling this from here on out.”
Haley indicated that she has been treated unfairly throughout this process, but has not spoke up about it yet.
“There is a whole lot that I kept my mouth shut about because I didn’t want to make people upset,” Haley said. “There’s a whole lot fixing to come out that people don’t know about yet, though.”
- To read the complete document of Logan Chick’s denial, log on to www.newsdemocratleader.com.
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