Published: October 04, 2008 06:36 pm      

Dance halls in limbo

City to consider new regulations for rental spaces

The City of Corsicana is proposing a new ordinance Tuesday that would throw a wide lasso around nearly any private rental space in town, requiring that they get new permits to operate.

The city’s attorney, Terry Jacobson, admits the city was interested in regulating BYOB establishments. However, the Texas Attorney General’s opinion is that BYOB places aren’t selling alcohol, so can’t be regulated by cities or the state.

Consequently, the new dance hall ordinance addresses everything but alcohol, Jacobson said. The everything else can include fire code, police calls, littering, loitering, health violations and even parking.

“By focusing on behavior, it allows the city to deal with problems that sometimes come out of social gatherings, including gatherings where alcohol is served,” he explained. “We aren’t focusing on alcohol, we’re focusing on behavior.”

The ordinance won’t affect churches, fraternal organizations, like the Shriners and VFW halls, and government-owned buildings, like the Palace and Cook Center. However, it would apparently include a dozen others, including the Fannie Mae Vernon Room, Star Hall, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Martin’s Music Hall, Kinsloe House, Magnolia House, Wicklow Inn, Holiday Inn Express, LaQuinta Inn and Suites, Hampton Inn and Suites, Halbert House, Mombassa, and VG’s (formerly Whiteselle’s).

“The ordinance is alcohol-neutral,” Jacobson said. “It’s just what kinds of activities take place in those places. Any place where they rent themselves out as a dance hall or social club will be covered by the ordinance.”



At the start

The controversy arose because two rental halls, Mombassa and VG’s, were turned down for Special Use Permits this last spring, opening the city up to a potential lawsuit.

Owned by Oswaldo Xolalpa, Mombassa, at 405 N. Beaton St., is intended as a space for wedding receptions and parties, but when it’s idle, he wants to hire bands and charge admission.

Xolalpa applied for a private club permit to have BYOB, and was rejected by the planning and zoning commission on the basis of complaints from neighbors who said they didn’t like the idea of having a club there.

Xolalpa, who is Hispanic, believes the city is trying to protect other businesses that are white-owned.

“The city says that if it’s not moral they can close the place, but they’re excepting the armory, expo, Shrine building and residential properties like the Halbert House and Magnolia House. So basically, this (new) ordinance is to put us out of business, me and Van (Neason),” Xolalpa said.

Van and Gaby Neason own VG’s, the second phase of a hall rental business in the former Whiteselle’s Building Supply, 301 E. Third Ave. Neason operated a rental hall next door for about four years, but this new space is more upscale, with tile floors, wheelchair accessible bathrooms and a well-equipped kitchen. Neason applied for an SUP, but was turned down on the basis of fights at the old space, and complaints from the neighbors.

Neason, who is black, questions why other businesses are allowed to host weddings with champagne and wine, but he isn’t.

“It wouldn’t be so bad but a lot of my main clientele are black and Hispanic,” Neason said. “We have weddings, quinceaneras, birthday parties.”

Neason compares renting a hall without alcohol to selling hot dogs with no mustard.

He says he spent $80,000 fixing up the second building, and everything was done strictly under city supervision.

“I went right down the line, every step with city inspector. I walked the line,” he said. “I want a nice place for private parties. We’re not asking for a permit to sell alcohol. We’re asking for BYOB.”



SUP blues

The city denies any racial discrimination in the refusal of the two SUPs, and point to the eventual approval of an SUP for X-calibur as a BYOB dance establishment. X-calibur, 1140 N. Business 45, is run by Enrique Sanchez, who was turned down for a private club SUP, but got it on appeal at the city council. In the end, Sanchez decided to pursue a liquor license to sell beer.

“I’m not aware of any discrimination towards any person,” Jacobson said. “Both (Xolalpa and Neason) ought to be happy with the (proposed) ordinance because it gives them the ability to apply for a permit if they meet the criteria. As long as they meet the criteria they’ll get it.”

The proposed ordinance withholds permits from anyone with a criminal history, and gives the city permission to enter the premises at any time. A permit can also be revoked if there are problems at the place or complaints from the neighbors.

Xolalpa and Neason argue that if they could get their SUPs denied on the basis of complaints, then competitors’ complaints could result in their new permits being lost, too.

Paul Ward, the new planning and zoning director, said that won’t be an issue. Ward spent years in the police department before moving into the planning and zoning department, and he’s used to seeing neighbors squabble.

“People try all kinds of bogus accusations to try to generate complaints,” Ward said. What will matter isn’t the number of complaints, but the number of verified problems, he said.

Ward and Jacobson think the new ordinance will benefit small businesses like Mombassa and VGs.

“Once they pass these changes, they’ll be able to reapply and start over,” Ward said. “I don’t know what would keep them from getting them. Everyone in town starts with a clean slate.”



Other halls

There are about a dozen other rental spaces in Corsicana that would fall under the ordinance, and most of the managers of those properties had never heard of the dance hall or social hall ordinance.

The Fannie Mae Vernon Rooms, which allow BYOB with the presence of a hired security team, have been rented out for everything from weddings to tool sales, said Rudy Carroll, a board member.

“We’ve been doing this since the ‘70s, and we’ve not caused a problem to the city,” Carroll said.

Jimmy Hale has been renting out the renovated Halbert House for weddings and other celebrations, and what began as favors for friends has turned into a small side business. Like the others, Hale also allows limited BYOB.

“Whatever the city thinks is best, we’ll live with it,” Hale said. “If we can operate within the rules, we will, and if we can’t, we’ll grow daylillies.”



Jimmy Vaclavik opened his first business in Corsicana in 1980, and he first moved to Navarro County in 1968, so he refers to himself as a “local.”

However, when he tried to open Fat Daddy’s as a comedy club serving alcohol at 110 E. Fifth Ave., downtown, he was turned down for a Special Use Permit, and told clubs couldn’t go downtown.

“This was right before Rick got his saloon,” Vaclavik said. “And I’m told Roy’s wants to open a sports bar. How come these people can and they won’t let me?”

Vaclavik believes it’s selective enforcement that benefits some businesses and owners at the expense of others. He claims to have spent $80,000 fixing up his facility, money he wouldn’t have spent if he’d known before he couldn’t open his business.

His vision for Fat Daddy’s is to attract people from other communities to come in and make a night of it in downtown, having dinner at the local restaurants followed by two hours of comedy. He believes he can attract 200 people a weekend to downtown Corsicana.

He’s read the new dance hall/social club ordinance, and he’s very concerned about the clause that calls for revoking a license if the hall violates “decency.”

“They’re constantly going to hound you,” Vaclavik said. “They’re just making it so hard. They don’t want any kind of entertainment that involves alcohol.”

He intends to finish the front of the building, and then try once more for his SUP. If he doesn’t get it, he’s going to sell out or board up the refurbished club and leave Corsicana.

“A businessman can’t make a living here,” he said.



Provisions of the proposed dance hall

and social hall ordinance:

• Included halls are any place available for rent for gatherings, excluding churches, fraternal or veterans organizations, government or school-owned buildings, and TABC-licensed places, or at city or county sanctioned events.

• The permit may be reviewed by any city department.

• A permit may be denied if the applicant has been convicted of a serious crime, or recently convicted of a minor crime, or if the place will be “injurious to the general welfare, health, peace, morals, safety and sense of decency of the public.”

• A permit may be suspended or revoked if the person violates any city ordinance, doesn’t operate the hall in a peaceful manner, allows drugs, alcohol or prostitution on the premises, or if the dance hall violates “the general welfare, health, peace, safety and sense of decency of the people.”

• A permit won’t be renewed if any city department receives complaints, or if the city discovers violations of any city ordinance, or if the police get increasingly called to the area near the dance hall.

• City officials may inspect the premises at any time, and hall owners can lose their permit if they refuse.

• A one-year dance hall permit fee would be $100, and renewals would be $50.

Source: Corsicana City Council agenda, Oct. 7, 2008.



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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com