Update of Stockham Interests Burlesque

The BCCT covers the proposed burlesque club in the Stockham building with a bit more detail. Obviously, if you want more details, you'll have to come out to the zoning board meeting on May 5 at 7:30 P.M.

I'm a big fan of Gateway and would be very happy to see the Stockham building put to good use, but the second floor burlesque club is the deal breaker. We can do better.

Developer planning ‘burlesque’ lounge
A zoning hearing is scheduled for May 5 at borough hall.
By DANNY ADLER STAFF WRITER

This may not be the revitalization that Morrisville was hoping for. A “burlesque-style adult entertainment” lounge is being proposed for the second floor of a four-story masonry building on the southeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Bridge Street.

The proposal also calls for a firstfloor restaurant and bakery, as well as a fitness center on the third and fourth floors of the Stockham building at 10 S. Pennsylvania Ave.

Stockham Interests LLC of Robbinsville, N.J., is scheduled to go before Morrisville’s zoning hearing board next month for a variance because the Stockham building is not zoned for adult entertainment, borough Manager George Mount said. The group also needs to go before the board for sign regulations.

A zoning hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 5 at borough hall, 35 Union St., and is open to the public.

The roughly 18,800-square-foot Stockham building, which used to be the home of the Record Collector music store, is roughly 65 percent vacant, according to a petition filed with the zoning office by Stockham Interests.

The “upscale restaurant” on the first floor and the adult entertainment lounge initially would not have liquor licenses and would be bring your own bottle, or BYOB, the petition said.

While many in town have said they want to see something done with the building, the proposal plan failed earlier this year to get endorsements from the Morrisville Economic Development Corporation, an autonomous corporation whose members are appointed by the borough council, according to Councilman George Bolos. Bolos is also a member of the economic development corporation.

In paperwork filed at borough hall, Stockham Interests says the proposal would contribute to the community by rehabilitating a municipal parking lot adjacent to the building.