Code board upholds order to close Showboat at 3524 Seventh Street after multiple drug citations

The Louisville Metro Code Enforcement Board on April 11 upheld an order to close Showboat, an adult-entertainment business at 3524 Seventh Street, and imposed a $2,000 fine after code-enforcement staff and Shively police testified the property had repeatedly qualified as a persistent illegal-activity property.

Hearing officer and board member Chris Wetland told the parties that he would "uphold the citation, I will uphold the order, and I will uphold the $2,000 fine, and get it over to district court where you can make your arguments." The order stems from an order to close issued March 3 and supporting citations and notices that staff said began with a December notice and continued through March citations.

Assistant county attorney Jason Fowler introduced the county’s case, saying the ordinance allows an order to close when a commercial premises is shown by a preponderance of the evidence to have persistent criminal activity. Code-enforcement inspector Wesley Barber testified about the procedural history of notices and resolution-meeting offers, and Shively Police Sergeant Thomas Breitmeier described officer-initiated "tavern checks" that resulted in multiple criminal citations for narcotics possession and related conduct at the property. "We have had multiple incidences of drug activity at this specific location," Breitmeier said, describing repeated patrols, interior checks and citations issued after officers encountered narcotics or subjects in possession.

Appellant counsel, identifying late production of a citation and the death of the principal, moved for a continuance or suppression. Counsel stated that the principal, Robert W. Allen, had died on Dec. 14, 2024, and that probate proceedings were recently completed with an executrix appointed March 10. "The principal died," appellant counsel said in argument. He argued that the death and probate process delayed the party able to take remedial actions and also raised statutory objections to using criminal-activity citations as the basis for civil enforcement.

County counsel and the board’s counsel opposed continuing the hearing, saying the ordinance requires only evidence of qualifying events and that the record included multiple qualifying citations. Inspector Barber and Sergeant Breitmeier testified to five qualifying events at the address (citations dated Jan. 30; Feb. 4; Feb. 9; Feb. 22; Feb. 27) that, in staff’s view, met the ordinance standard. Barber testified that the resolution-meeting process was offered and that staff accommodated meeting dates but that several dates were missed.

After argument on relevancy and hearsay objections, the hearing officer found that code-enforcement staff met their burden by a preponderance of the evidence and sustained the citation and order to close. The hearing officer noted the order takes effect immediately; appellant counsel stated an intent to pursue judicial review in Jefferson District Court and federal court.

Next steps: the board’s order will be transmitted for district-court review as the appellant pursues judicial remedies. The board did not set a further on-the-record status before the district court filing.

Actions at a glance: the board sustained the order to close the business located at 3524 Seventh Street and imposed a $2,000 fine; the appellant announced plans to seek judicial review.