Saugus nightclub to face show cause hearing over parking lot incidents

SAUGUS – Due largely to an apparent inability to control its parking lot at closing time the Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to reopen a show cause hearing on Tabu Ultra Lounge and Nightclub.The board initially held a hearing for the club in October but continued it on the recommendation of Police Chief Domenic DiMella. DiMella said he had sat with the new club owners and hashed out a new security plan that included adding a police cruiser with a detail on Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 2 a.m., increasing security staff by two including a female to pat down female patrons and setting certain security personnel minimums for the club’s busiest night.DiMella said the club complied with those requests but it seems to have had little effect on the number of incidents, of which most have taken place in the parking lot at closing time.DiMella told the board police responded to 13 scenes at the club between Aug. 1, 2008 and Monday, Jan. 20, 2009. Three calls resulted in arrests.Selectman Michael Kelleher said he was disappointed to hear the changes were not working and asked DiMella, “What is failing in your opinion?”DiMella said it seemed to be a matter of too many patrons hitting the parking lot all at once and despite an increase in security personnel and police presence skirmishes were still happening.”You can’t prevent altercations from happening,” DiMella said. “You have Route 1 right there. It’s a city problem for a town Police Department.”Kelleher also asked, short of even more manpower, what would DiMella recommend.”Obviously if we can’t handle the number of people, I’d lower the capacity,” he said. “That way they wouldn’t have as many people to control.”The club has two rooms and holds 486 patrons.Selectmen also asked DiMella if he thought anything had changed within the last six months that perhaps gave rise to increased trouble but DiMella said no.In his experience, DiMella said, the trouble often comes in spurts with no calls coming for months then everything breaking loose at once.”With the nightclubs we have they keep us busy,” he added.Oasis Restaurant and Jin Asian Restaurant Complex have also been called in for show cause hearings as a result of parking lot violence.Selectman Stephen Horlick questioned DiMella if he felt it was the responsibility of the town to take care of incidents on private property or if it should be up to the club.”That’s a two fold answer,” DiMella replied.On one hand he said it is the responsibility of the club to keep its patrons and employees safe, however, the club also needs to reach out to the police when an incident gets beyond their control.Answering the unasked question DiMella also said he didn’t think rolling hours back would help.”If you closed the bar an hour later it would happen an hour later if you closed the bar an hour earlier it would happen an hour earlier,” he said. “It is what it is. We thought they could control it with the new security plan but they can’t.”The board voted to continue the hearing to Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. and will issue a supplemental notice to include the 13 incidents that took place between Aug. 2008 and January 2009.