The club must also convert the second floor of the building into short-term rental rooms or apartments listed on a service like Airbnb and complete the conversion within a year. The club’s basement is off-limits to adult use and the agreement commits the club to endeavor to rent out the areas of the building along North Washington Street, some of which are already rented, according to an attached diagram of the building to the agreement. The agreement confirms that the club has the right to continue operating its “cabaret” in an area of the building with an existing stage and bar, resulting in the business no longer using its entrance under the marquee on North Washington Street and installed a single customer entrance instead.Ĭontinue reading: “Save the Vu”: Employees of the strip club Ypsilanti protest in front of the town hallīut the club, which opened in 1982 as an adult theater, must also cease operations of its adult bookstore and adult video booth area, which can be converted into four private performance spaces under the agreement.ĭéjà Vu must undo all unauthorized construction work, and the settlement agreement states that it must seek and obtain necessary permits for any future work in the building. Neither side admitted culpability in the recent settlement, giving Déjà Vu a path it could choose to get back into business while restricting which parts of the building can house adult entertainment in the future. That meant the strip club had lost its grandfather status under modern zoning plans - known as “non-compliant occupancy” - and could no longer operate its downtown adult entertainment business, the city claimed. In it, officials said the club ignored required building permit procedures while making illegal changes to the building’s 2019 interior design. Ypsilanti hit back two months later with its own lawsuit in state court. In April 2021, a company that operates the Ypsilanti club and another that owns the building sued Ypsilanti in federal court, claiming city officials had a ruling on whether plans to repair and renovate the club after the July 2020 fire to be approved, deliberately taken too slowly disdain for the naked entertainment at the core of its business model, protected speech under the First Amendment. It provides for the dismissal of two lawsuits that have been ongoing since 2021.
The settlement agreement was signed by Déjà Vu founder Harry Mohney, an adult entertainment mogul once dubbed the “Howard Hughes of porn,” who started out in Durand, west of Flint. A public relations expert linked to the company said in an email Monday, October 24, that it would issue a statement, but had not done so prior to publication. Déjà Vu: A timeline of the city’s dueling legal battles with the downtown strip clubĪ lawyer representing the strip club, which is affiliated with multinational adult entertainment giant Déjà Vu, did not respond to a call and email seeking comment. 18 after a closed session to discuss the matter.Ĭontinue reading: Ypsilanti vs. “The City of Ypsilanti’s interest in the case is to enforce its ordinances, and Attorney (Kimberly) Scott was able to reach a settlement that was approved by the City Council and avoided a lengthy, costly process,” City Attorney John Barr said in a statement referring to the outside attorney who handled the litigation for the city.Īll but one Ypsilanti City Council member, Mayor Lois Allen-Richardson, voted to OK the settlement on Oct. As part of the deal, Déjà Vu has secured the right to operate its cabaret section with nude entertainers, but must close an adult bookstore and video-viewing area on the premises, pay the city $65,000, and sell the second floor of the Converting buildings into Airbnb-style rentals. 19 that settles the two lawsuits with the city.
It comes in the form of a 58-page settlement agreement signed Oct. YPSILANTI, MI - A strip club near the heart of downtown Ypsilanti has been closed for more than two and a half years.įirst it was a victim of COVID-19-related shutdowns, followed by a fire with two alarms inside the building, leading to dueling lawsuits with city officials over alleged unauthorized construction and the city’s review of plans to repair the fire-damaged club.īut now the Déjà Vu Showgirls Club on North Washington Street has a way to reopen.
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