Attorney cites dancing as reason for Luna Lounge closure following 'shots fired' incident

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Luna Lounge bar in Cheektowaga was ordered to shut down by the town just three days after we brought you news of neighbors' concerns last week. Now, dancing has become an argument for the bar's closure.

Concerns were first raised by residents following a "shots fired" incident that happened in the bar's parking lot in the early morning hours of Monday, April 28.

The incident stemmed from the bar, according to Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons, who said it started as a verbal altercation that turned physical, resulting in a shot being fired into the air.

The bar was ordered to close and cease operations by the Town of Cheektowaga Code Enforcement on May 5. In the order, code enforcement cites Chapter 91 of the Town of Cheektowaga code which specifically has to do with dance halls.

The town requires a license for dance halls and defines them as "having an occupancy capacity of 300 or more persons where a public dance, concert or related activity is permitted or conducted as a part of the business of such place."

The attorney representing the owners of Luna Lounge, Jacob Piorkowski, tells us that the Town of Cheektowaga is using dancing as part of the reasoning for their closure.

"My clients have gone to the town clerk on two occasions and asked for a permit for dancing, and were informed that no such permit exists, and that I believe a permit such as that has not been issued in over 16 years," Piorkowski said.

Piorkowski then went on to explain how his clients are willing to work with the town, saying they'd even be willing to revise their operations in order to reopen.

"One of my questions to the town was, well, can we operate as a tavern without dancing, until this permit issue is worked out?" Piorkowski asked. "I haven't received a response that's definitive on that yet."

Cheektowaga Town Supervisor Brian Nowak appeared Friday on Buffalo Brief, streamed on WIVB+, where he was asked about their proposal to operate as a tavern with no dancing.

"In that particular case, this is something that the Town Board is got to talk about, and it gets into an area where we're dealing with our attorneys on that," Nowak said. "So, I don't want to speak in detail on that."

Moving forward, Piorkowski said his clients remain frustrated by the closure of their bar, and that he's hopeful they can work something out with the town to reopen. If not, they will be considering filing a petition in court to be able to resume operations.

In our initial story, Chief Coons said his department had been called to the bar frequently for all kinds of complaints. He said they’ve responded to a total of 114 times in the past year as of last Friday.