COLUMBUS – Thirteen has turned out to be an unlucky number for the owners of a troubled East Side nightclub that was boarded up Thursday after being declared a nuisance by Franklin County and City of Columbus authorities.
Activity at Lounge 13, 1320 Beechwood Road, has prompted 135 police runs since 2016, including two shootings this year that left three people injured, and a string of crimes perpetrated by and against employees of the nightclub, according to the office of City Attorney Richard Pfeiffer, Jr.
Pfeiffer’s office secured an emergency restraining order against the business after a hearing in the Franklin County Environmental Court where the club was “deemed to be operating in a manner that substantially interferes with the public decency, sobriety, peace, and good order” of the city, Pfeiffer said.
Chronic violence, including assaults, fights and shootings, and a number of drug-related crimes at Lounge 13 has resulted in a drain on police resources and prompted at least six community groups to support city efforts to block the owner from renewing their liquor permit for the premises, according to court documents released Thursday.
Columbus City Council voted unanimously last December to object to the renewal of the liquor permit for Lounge 13, an application which is still pending before the Ohio Division of Liquor Control.
A follow-up hearing for a preliminary and permanent injunction against the owners of Lounge 13 is scheduled for October 2, Pfeiffer said.
If the bar is declared to be a public nuisance, state law grants the court authority to order the premises shut down for up to one year. Pfeiffer’s office is trying to prove that the owners are guilty of maintaining a nuisance by establishing that they knew about or supported the activity.