NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The operators of the Legacy Lounge are taking the City of Norfolk to court and trying to get its doors reopened.
They are calling into question the way the Norfolk City Council revoked its conditional use permit following an incident on August 5 that left four people shot and injured outside the Lounge.
The Legacy Lounge is represented by attorney Tim Anderson, and he told 10 On Your Side he thinks it is unlawful in that it was a violation of due process.
Legacy Lounge will also argue that on August 5, there were four security guards in Legacy Lounge which is required under the Conditional Use Permit issued by the city.
What the owners are arguing is that they were denied due process in the way the city handled the revocation of the Conditional Use Permit, and that during a city council meeting, they were given 20 minutes to defend their business to keep it operating.
In the early morning hours of August 5, the streets outside Legacy Lounge were full of chaos. At around 1:15 am, an Instagram clip showed how it started.
The clip shows the accused shooting suspect Tyshawn Gray being dragged by the collar across the floor until he was out of the lounge, and that was presented to Norfolk City Council on September 13.
“They break out a 4-5 second clip from Instagram showing this guy getting thrown out by one of the plain-clothed people. It was stated there is evidence they didn’t have security, but they did,” said Legacy’s attorney Tim Anderson.
Anderson will argue in a Petition for Appeal to get the court to reverse the revocation of Legacy’s Conditional Use Permit that allows it to operate.
Read the affidavit for the search warrant during the shooting on August 5 HERE.
Anderson says Legacy had four security guards in the nightclub at the time. The manager was not a member of the security team.
“They had multiple security even in their complaint. They say that the security was pushing other people out of the club.”
And that is exactly what Asst. Norfolk City Attorney Katherine Taylor told council.
“Warren Salvodon [owner of Legacy Lounge] told news media he had security there inside and outside that night. Indeed, the city of Norfolk has information from Norfolk police that their [Legacy] security workers did clear the crowd.”
The city would not comment on this story due to the new legal action, but on September 13, Taylor said part of the violation included the shirts.
“He told them they were wearing collared shirts, so as not to give the appearance of a prototypical security guard. That is contrary to what is in the security plan, and if something like that has been proposed, it would not have been acceptable.”
Anderson says Norfolk is playing politics with what the real issue is.
“The city of Norfolk is trying to create an appearance that they are doing something. The shootings in Norfolk are not really happening downtown, they are happening in other parts of the city…the council doesn’t want to admit that.”
Anderson hopes there is a dialog with the city before next Wednesday’s Petition for Appeal Hearing.
Anderson is hoping to find a reasonable solution like other establishments that have agreed to close one hour early instead of closing at 2 a.m.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.