Bar to permanently close

SANDUSKY — A city bar with a long rap sheet has been officially locked up. A settlement reached in Erie County Common Pleas Court Wednesday permanently closed Amirah's Turn, formerly known as the Dog House Bar, which was the target of "nuisance" complaints by police and nearby residents in the West Jefferson Street neighborhood. Amirah's Turn, which is on the corner of West Jefferson and McDonough streets, was shuttered on an emergency temporary restraining order in early September after the city law director's office filed a suit against the business for the alleged continuous nuisance behavior. On Wednesday, bar owners Jeanie Crabb and Ambrian Lewis came to a settlement with city, according to court records. The agreement states that the bar's owners will sell the building to the city, and in return, the city will not pursue any nuisance charges, "nor participate in prosecution of any complaint currently pending." The bar, which stands in the middle of a residential neighborhood, has been cited twice by state agencies since November 2020 for failure to comply with COVID-19 protocols. The city has been billing Amirah's Turn several thousand dollars for the high volume of nuisance-related calls Sandusky police responded to the bar. Police Chief Jared Oliver told the Register previously that, in the past year, police officers were dispatched there over 150 times. "The business was nothing but a scourge on the neighborhood," Oliver said. "We are very pleased that it's been closed." City law director Brendan Heil said the settlement has finally put the neighborhood's longtime irritant to bed. "From the city's perspective, we are happy we reached an agreement with the owners because it ensures the bar will remain shut down," Heil said. "The nuisance will be abated, and the neighborhood will never have to deal with this in the future." According to the court document, the building will be sold to the city for $95,000. The current owners, who bought the property in May 2019, get $65,000 of that sale. The previous owners, William Butler and Letesia Jones, will receive $30,000. Jeffery Rengel, an attorney representing The Doghouse Bar LLC and its current owners, said the finalized settlement is fair. "We believe it's fair; we wouldn't have taken it if it wasn't," Rengel said. Incidents requiring police intervention were high in the area surrounding the bar — that includes weapons offenses, disorderly conduct, assaults and shootings. In June 2020, two men were shot outside of the bar, and, in April 2021, a call was made of shots fired outside the bar, where officers found casings on the ground outside. Many have expressed their opposition online to the bar's presence on their block. "It is a shame that the neighborhood has to put up with this," Cathy Didion commented on a previous Register article. "I live down the street, people yelling at 2 a.m. again is not cool," posted Heather Ginnever. Heil said the city has yet to decide what to do with the space but wants to put it to good use for the neighborhood. "We are going to look into any redevelopment opportunities," Heil said "That would be through our community development department."