DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Residents in a Volusia County community said a nearby strip club and bars are a haven for crime and they’re fighting a plan they said could make things worse.
Residents living on Seabreeze Boulevard worry a new bar going across the street will eventually become another strip club, and they said it’s one too many.
“At night time, it turns into a bar scene and not a very nice one,” said resident Weegie Kuendig.
Two men seen fighting in a surveillance video outside the Molly Browns Strip Club led to a shooting last month.
No one was hit, but it wasn’t the first shooting in that area.
“There have been shooting, muggings and all kinds of things that have happened here, and it has an effect on our quality of life and our neighborhood,” said Kuendig.
Kuendig represents a large group of residents who live on the north end of Seabreeze Boulevard.
They want the area rezoned, more policing and no more strip clubs.
Recently, they have become suspicious of a new night club that opened across the street from Lollipops, an existing strip club.
“Three in one block is just too many,” Kuendig said.
The owner of the new club said he’s willing to work with police to make sure there aren’t any problems.
He said he doesn’t plan to make his club a strip club, but he is licensed to do so.
In the meantime, Chief Mike Chitwood said he is working to hire more officers by early 2016.
He’s also working with club owners to hire more off-duty officers to keep the area under control, but he can’t stop strip clubs from being built.
"Whether it's good for the image of the city, with the Westin project coming in and a boutique hotel coming in, I think that's a question for somebody above my pay grade,” he said.
Residents living on the road said they’re working with their commissioners to rezone the strip.