Chattanooga Closing a Bad Church Nightclub?

Tennessee club owners have felt the pressure from local officials looking to shutter their business for being a nuisance because of violent patrons outside the club.

Ironically, Chattanooga officials are looking to close a church teen outreach program - with the same nusinance laws used against clubs. Read more here.

Recently in Nashville, Bar Louie was shuttered by the local DA for violence in a public parking lot. A Chancery Court overturned the closing, but the publicity about shootings and the financial blow from being closed were fatal and the bar went out of business.

The Chattanooga church has a teen outreach program called Club Fathom. One of the missions is to support teenage gang members quitting gangs. Unfortunately, quitting gangland is not like joining a ten step program. Gang members that resign are often punished, and in gangland, being killed is a common punishment.

Like many of the club cases, Fathom's problems mostly occurred outside the business. It will be interesting to see how the city fares against a church outreach program with problems in areas around the club. Stay tuned.

Ironically, Chattanooga beer laws prohibit beer permits from being issued within 500 feet of teen social clubs.