The St. Pete times has written a detailed report surrounding the crime pouring out of Club Fuel and our organization’s wish to curve it. Unfortunately, to this day, the club organizers have not contacted our neighborhood to begin a dialogue on how they can improve the situation. Read the article below.
With little more than a day’s notice, 35 residents and business owners in the Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association mustered an emergency meeting last week.
The newspaper headlines called for action:
A man was fatally shot over the weekend, minutes after being kicked out of Empire Nightclub for fighting with the alleged gunman.
Neighbors had griped about crime surrounding Empire and its nightclub neighbor Fuel for about a year. They’d even met with Mayor Pam Iorio last fall to discuss their worries.
"Enough is enough. We’re fed up with what’s going on," association president Tony LaColla said when he found out about the shooting.
"It’s hurting business. It’s going against our plan to bring more people to Ybor."
The neighbors needed to act fast, they decided. The city needed to get more involved. Police needed to do more.
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Empire Nightclub and Club Fuel share the 1900 block of E Seventh Avenue. Drink specials and nonstop hip-hop draw huge crowds on weekend nights.
Neighbors say they also draw trouble.
In 2002, two of Empire’s bouncers were shot after telling a man to take off his knit cap. One died. The gunman got two life sentences.
Last fall, a Temple Terrace man was stabbed to death in a parking lot outside Empire, also after an argument.
In 2003, a man was stabbed on Club Fuel’s dance floor and survived. Two years later, a man was shot outside the club.
That same year, 2,000 teenagers left an "All Ages High School Party" at Club Fuel and flooded the streets. It took 30 police officers and a helicopter to keep them under control.
After the most recent shooting at Empire, Tampa police Lt. Diane Hobley-Burney said she couldn’t comment on the club because the shooting happened between individuals, outside.
But she did say that violent crime in Ybor City, including murders and robberies, is down 15 percent.
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Residents don’t question that the police presence in Ybor City is high.
"The perpetrators have been busted, so it shows police are on top of things," LaColla said.
But they have several concerns. One is that off-duty police officers are hired and paid privately by clubs to act as security guards. LaColla wonders if uneven wages among clubs might cause the guards to favor some establishments over others.
Also, security guards typically escort people who fight at the clubs off the property, LaColla said. He wonders if more could be done.
"Maybe they need to be brought to detox," LaColla said. "Maybe they need to be brought to jail."
After being bombarded with e-mails by Ybor residents, City Council chairwoman Gwendolyn Miller asked police last week to create a report on how the megaclubs factor into crime in Ybor. The report is due to the council Thursday.
"We need to kind of control what’s going on, because we are trying to get Ybor City back to where it should be," Miller said. "And now people are going to be afraid to go to Ybor City."
Through Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy, District 3 Cmdr. Maj. Robert Guidara declined to comment for this story.
"He’s uncomfortable talking about the problem until he has put together this report to City Council," McElroy said.
Representatives of Empire and Fuel could not be reached for comment.
But after the Sunday shooting, Empire owner Ken Grossman told the Times that people are patted down for weapons when they walk into his club. There’s nothing he can do, he said, to stop problems that spill into the streets.
Last week, Grossman met with the neighborhood association president for the first time. LaColla left feeling optimistic.
"They were willing to work with us and they said, ‘Hey, give us your solutions, give us your ideas and we’ll see what we can do.’ At least Empire is," LaColla said. "Club Fuel - I don’t believe they’re interested in dealing with the neighborhood right now."
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The same day police give their report, Club Fuel chief financial officer Richard MacKizer will stand trial for the club’s allegedly violating the city’s noise code, a criminal offense punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or six months’ probation.
Club Fuel has been cited eight times, including at least three warnings, for pumping its bass too loud, said prosecutor David Shobe. That’s the highest number of noise violations at a club in Ybor City.
Two other Fuel associates face similar charges for noise violations: Jai Lalwani and Joseph Azzi, who is no longer with the club. Their charges were filed after MacKizer’s.
If any of them are found guilty, the City Council would have the chance to review the club’s wet zoning, which is required for alcohol sales, and possibly suspend or revoke its permits.
Miller says she is tracking the court cases and won’t hesitate to call a hearing.
"I’d be willing to revoke their license," Miller said. "I’m for the neighbors. I know how it is when you’re in a neighborhood like that."
Miller isn’t stopping with the police, she said.
"I think really it’s a wet-zoning issue. That’s drawing them to the clubs, and I think we need to look into whether they’re doing it correctly. If they’re abusing their wet-zoning licenses, we need to do something about it."
Residents sent a letter Monday to the mayor, City Council members, the city attorney’s office and all of the city’s neighborhood association presidents pitching their own amendments to the city wet-zoning code.
The residents want a "conditional use permit" that would apply to all bars within 500 feet of a residence that have a maximum occupancy of 250 or more.
They want clubs to require bouncers to attend a training program, to post rules of conduct prominently outside, and to create plans of action to deal with fights, drugs, intoxicated patrons, underage drinking and loitering. If any of these conditions are violated, a club should lose its wet zoning, the residents say.
Independently of Ybor residents, the City Council is reviewing and changing the wet zoning permitting process. The city attorney’s office is studying the neighborhood’s ideas to see if they can apply to the city’s revisions.
Any changes wouldn’t affect Empire or Fuel - they’re already grandfathered into current guidelines. But revisions would apply to any new club that opens.
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LaColla welcomes the broader approach.
"We have to do more than just look at one specific nightclub," he said. "There’s underlying issues that need to be addressed."
Residents continue their struggle to diversify the types of entertainment in Ybor City.
"That’s really one of our biggest concerns," LaColla said. Residents want "more restaurants, retail, more activities for everyone."
Miller agreed: "You don’t need all those clubs."
Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com.
