The city is the one blushing after it twice failed to hold a required public hearing for a West End strip club, by default leaving it to a judge to clear the way for the project.

In a ruling last month, Common Pleas Judge Joseph James overturned a city planning commission recommendation against a conditional use application for Marquise Investment Inc., which wants to open the club at 1635 W. Carson St.

The decision came after City Council failed to hold a required public hearing on the commission's recommendation, opening the door for Marquise Investment to appeal to court.

City officials then compounded the error by dallying in conducting a hearing after Judge James returned the matter to council for that specific purpose, prompting the jurist to schedule a hearing himself instead.

"I think this is a total fiasco," council President Doug Shields said yesterday.

"For the ball to be dropped is one thing. For it to be dropped twice, it has to raise some concerns. It definitely has raised my concern," added Councilwoman Theresa Smith, who represents the West End.

Mr. Shields said council never was notified that the planning commission had recommended against the club and that a public hearing should be scheduled.

The city's zoning code required council to hold a public hearing within 45 days of the commission's action. When that did not happen, the application was considered denied, giving the applicant the right to appeal to court, which Marquise did.

At a status conference in March, Judge James returned the matter to council for the required hearing. But Mr. Shields said he did not learn of that until July, some four months later.

Council scheduled a hearing for Oct. 6. But instead of waiting, Judge James took matters into his own hands and decided to conduct his own hearing Oct. 13.

Mr. Shields said the breakdowns continue a pattern that surfaced last year when the historic designation of the late playwright August Wilson's boyhood home languished for more than eight months without a required hearing before council.

"The day-to-day operational management in many, many instances leaves a lot to be desired," Mr. Shields said. "Somebody's not getting the job done."

Councilwoman Tonya Payne accepted blame for allowing the August Wilson nomination to fall through the cracks.

Planning Director Noor Ismail had little to say yesterday regarding the apparent lack of notification to council on the strip club matter. "We're still looking into it," she said, declining further comment.

In his ruling, Judge James said Marquise Investment had met the requirements for a conditional use and that opponents had failed to show that the project would be detrimental to public health, safety and welfare.

Assistant City Solicitor Lawrence H. Baumiller said the city would appeal the decision.

Joe Panzino, executive director of the Onala Recovery Center next door to the proposed club, was upset with the ruling.

He said it would create "a whole lot of difficulty" not only for his clients recovering from drug and alcohol addiction but for traffic on West Carson Street and in the West End Circle.

"Mainly, I'm concerned about my clients being exposed in such close proximity [to the club] while they're trying to get help," he said. "I think this is just the wrong location for something like that."

At the planning commission hearing, Patrick Risha, owner and operator of Marquise, said he would serve no alcohol, just complimentary juices and sodas at the club, but reserved the right to request a liquor license.

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