We are pleased to see the Valley Advocate cover the Amazing.net/Apremont Triangle situation in its May 31-June 6 edition. The article is similar to a May 24 post at Heather Brandon’s Urban Compass blog. From the article:
Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan addressed a group at a May 17 event downtown to say that he will convene a hearing at City Hall’s Room 220 on Monday, June 18 at 3:30 pm to consider rescinding an entertainment license for the adult store Amazing.net. The store is on Bridge Street at Apremont Triangle…
Ryan told the [Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association] open house attendees that police have filed several serious charges against Amazing.net. Residents expected for some time to be able to attend a license hearing regarding the store, but after a mysterious postponement, for several months it seemed to have disappeared from anyone’s list of priorities. The issue arose in an Urban Compass interview with real estate developers and Birnie Building owners Leon [Charkoudian] and Fred Rowe…
According to what residents and business owners have said in the last year, there is much room for improvement at Apremont Triangle with respect to the store and general public safety and sanitation standards, to say nothing of what great potential exists if a more friendly or merely neutral environment for development could be created.
We urge concerned citizens to mail their comments about Amazing.net to: Springfield License Commission, Room
317, City Hall, Springfield, MA 01103. Citizens are welcome to attend the Amazing.net license hearing on June 18, but may not speak, so send your comments ahead of time.
See also:
Gazette: “Porn store opening delayed”
Police dispatch reports going back to 1998 paint a picture of burglaries, panic alarms, ambulance calls and
altercations in and around the Amazing.net store at Apremont Triangle. Capital Video has gone back on promises to Northampton, resisted (unsuccessfully) viewing booth health regulations in Kittery, Maine, and has a financial incentive
to be lax about activities within their stores with viewing booths
(patron: “…theres more money going in the machines with lights off
and holes in the walls”).
One of Capital Video’s own patrons suggests an awareness that lax periods follow restrictive ones:
“I agree that it is not really worth the time with the bright lights
and no holes but they will be back eventually. Be Patient!” It’s time
to break this cycle and win permanent gains for Apremont Triangle with viewing booth health regulations, better adult-use zoning, and shutting down Capital Video’s Springfield store as a public nuisance. Let Mayor Charles Ryan know how you feel.
Springfield Republican Reports on Apremont Triangle Mailing about Amazing.net
“Residents…told The Republican that they believe the store draws
prostitutes as well as vagrants who publicly urinate on their
properties….
“David B. Panagore, chief development officer for the Springfield
Finance Control Board, agreed with an assertion by Tuckey [Michael M.
Tuckey Sr., president of the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association] that a sex-oriented video and products store discourages companies that could revitalize the area from moving in.”
Springfield
Police Commissioner: “…it is fair to say that ‘Amazing’ constitutes
an attractive nuisance that contributes to blighted conditions there”
“We have a great interest in the quality of life in the vicinity of the
triangle and have previously taken some steps to mitigate it. Much
remains to be done and it is fair to say that ‘Amazing’ constitutes an
attractive nuisance that contributes to blighted conditions there.
“We…would work with any group that has innovative ideas for dealing
with this condition, particularly if they transcend the inherent
limitations of an enforcement only approach.”
Capital Video Springfield: Secondary Effects Extend to Prostitution; Actions the City Can Take
[Fred Rowe:] Outside, we have both male and female prostitutes standing
across the street, by our building, and we have a vacant lot that we
use for parking. They stand there, and they wait for [customers] to
come out, and they solicit them, and they try to take them out behind
our building, and do their business. It’s unbelievable.
Capital Video’s Springfield Porn Shop Repels Sought-After Businesses
“The
[potential grocery] market is really the key, we think, to the whole
building. The people that come, the market operator–their issue is
number one, the Video Expo [Amazing.net] across the street, and the
crowd that you see around it…”
Springfield
License Commission to Review Alleged Capital Video Violations for Drug
Sales and Lewd Activity On or Near the Premises
The hearing, allegedly for license violations regarding five counts of
illegal activity including drug sales on or near the premises and lewd
activity, was postponed early this week. The License Commission does
not invite public comment at its hearings, but residents can send
concerns about Amazing.net to: Springfield License Commission, Room
317, City Hall, Springfield, MA 01103.