A nightclub on Atlanta Highway in Montgomery is under scrutiny after a March 22 shooting.
The Montgomery City Council met May 19 to review and possibly revoke the license of Eduardo Brown, who owns XS Ultra Lounge, an establishment located in Councilor Ed Grimes’s district.
Brown explained that on the night of March 22 an armed man approached the open doors of the club. When the man raised his gun, a security guard standing just inside the door shot and wounded him.
The council gave Brown two weeks to turn over a video of the incident to the Montgomery Police Department for review. Grimes told Brown the council would pull his license if he did not comply.
Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys said that police did not receive a call about the incident until one came from the hospital.
Brown’s attorney argued that it’s unreasonable to expect a property owner to be responsible for a "wide-open parking lot that extends to the street,” especially when citizens are allowed to carry firearms in Montgomery.
Several councilors said that closing Brown’s establishment would just mean that bad actors would move to another place.
“It’s kind of hard for this council to legislate morality,” Council President Cornelius Calhoun said. “We want to do what the community is asking us to do, but we also don’t want to run every business out of business.”
Graboys told the council that all bars and clubs do not have the same issues as XS Ultra Lounge.
Brown said he plans to install a walk-through metal detector, and he said he would be willing to purchase cameras for the parking lot and for the front door that could be monitored by the MPD.
Billie Crawford with the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association said the neighborhood is fed up with the club, citing issues with traffic, noise and crowds in the parking lot. She urged the council to close down the club.
“My people in Forest Hills are tired of it,” Crawford said. “They feel like they’re going through a danger zone through Forest Hills Drive when they’re trying to get home at night.”
The Montgomery City Council meets at 5 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of the month at City Hall on 103 North Perry Street. Recordings of meetings can be found on YouTube and Facebook.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.