DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 1997              TAG: 9708260348

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   75 lines

OWNER DROPS PLAN FOR BEACH GO-GO BAR FACING COMPLAINTS FROM NEIGHBORS, HE DECIDES TO REOPEN SPORTS BAR.

The plan for a go-go bar near Lynnhaven Mall is a no-go.

Facing complaints from neighbors and months of legal wrangling with the city, the man who leases the property said Monday he will improve the site and reopen a sports bar.

``It's not worth the headaches,'' said Frank Beal, owner of Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill. ``We listened to the concerns, and we agree with them. If people don't want you in the neighborhood, you don't go there.''

Beal planned to open a J.B.'s Gallery of Girls Sept. 2 in his restaurant, near South Lynnhaven Road and Lynnhaven Parkway.

Patrons can eat and drink at J.B.'s six Hampton Roads clubs, but the prime attractions are the dancers.

Under city law, they may not perform lap dances or dance nude.

Geoffrey and Victoria Cielo, the owners of a popular tae kwon do studio next to Frankie's, worried that the go-go bar would hurt their business and corrupt the sensibilities of young students.

Word of their protest spread quickly as neighbors and other business owners talked of loitering, drunken driving and declining property values.

About 200 people signed a petition against the go-go bar, and an estimated 100 attended a rally Saturday at King Tiger Martial Arts, 906 S. Lynnhaven Road.

Before the rally, the Cielos and their fellow protesters had called the city to seek possible ways to block the bar.

The city determined that Beal would need a conditional-use permit in order to change his business from a restaurant to a restaurant-bar with entertainment near a residential neighborhood.

Getting such a permit takes about three months, requires public hearings and a City Council ruling. Even then, the council can either impose special rules for the business or turn down the application.

The rule has been on the books since 1992 - and is a tool similar to the one that Norfolk's City Council will debate tonight. Norfolk's council may place more restrictions on what kind of entertainment restaurants can offer in designated neighborhoods.

Virginia Beach's law doesn't specifically name go-go bars, although it targets places that are more bar than restaurant.

An establishment must secure a conditional-use permit if:

Alcohol will be served.

It is located within 500 feet of a residential area.

It operates between midnight and 2 a.m.

Minors are excluded at any time during the day or night, or if the place provides entertainment that is audible at an adjoining property.

The permit is designed to prevent ``undue impact'' on nearby businesses or residential areas, said Vanessa Valldejuli, an assistant city attorney in planning, zoning and environmental issues.

``I know it's a sensitive issue with a go-go bar,'' she said, ``but we're not looking at the name of the bar. We're looking at the use as it relates to the zoning ordinance.''

When Geoffrey Cielo learned the go-go bar wouldn't open, he said he's glad to see people can unite for a common cause.

``That sounds awesome,'' he said. ``That sounds to me like the community has come together.''

He still wants his business neighbor to put his plans in writing.

Beal said he will do what it takes to ease relations. ``We will put it in writing,'' he said.

His partner in the short-lived controversy, Jack Bolno, owns the other J.B. Gallery bars. He, too, said he doesn't want people to be upset at him.

``Right now,'' he said Monday, ``we feel we have a good image in our business, and we have that because we do the right thing. We'd like to keep it that way.''

He said he has no immediate plans to open a seventh J.B.'s. But he took issue with residents' concerns about crime and declining property values around go-go bars.

He said his Bayside J.B.'s, near Thoroughgood, indicates that an upscale residential area can coexist with a go-go bar.

``It wouldn't hurt property values,'' he said. ``I have not seen that happen any time, anywhere.''

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