TERRE HAUTE —
A downtown Katt is taking some heat about its litter.
The Blu Katt, a nightclub at 665 Wabash Ave., received a citation Tuesday from Terre Haute Code Enforcement officers for trash left outside the business. This is the first such citation for the business.
But neighbors of the Blu Katt say this was not an isolated incident.
“This was basically the final straw,” said Mic Orman, owner of Mic’s Pics, which is next door to the Blu Katt. Orman had been in contact with the nightclub’s owners for months trying to find a solution to frequent beer bottles, cigarette butts and other trash left outside, he said. Orman said he often found the trash directly outside his business. On Tuesday, he left a note on one of the Blu Katt’s outdoor tables complaining about the situation.
“Sometimes [The Blu Katt] appears to be little more than a frat house,” Orman said.
Several other business owners in the same block verified Orman’s complaints.
On Tuesday, a downtown business person who asked not to be named photographed beer bottles left outside the Blu Katt and sent the picture to City Hall. The Blu Katt typically opens in the evenings and no one was at the business at the time the photograph was taken, the business person said.
And no one was at the Blu Katt a little later Tuesday when a city code enforcement officer arrived and cited the business for the mess. The citation was left on the door of the nightclub, said Mayor Duke Bennett.
This was only the second time Bennett said he had received a complaint about the Blu Katt. On the first occasion, the mess was cleaned up and “that was the end of it,” he said.
“Normally, we just try and warn them,” Bennett said. The purpose of a trash citation is not really to collect a fine, but rather to get the property owner to make changes, he said.
“That’s the goal,” Bennett said.
Nevertheless, the city will continue to monitor the Blu Katt daily to see if the problem stops, Bennett said.
City Councilman Todd Nation, who has operated a business a few doors from the Blu Katt, said he has heard numerous complaints about trash from his neighbors since the Blu Katt opened for business.
As a member of the City Council and a downtown advocate, Nation said he wrote a letter to the Blu Katt’s owners a few weeks ago seeking a solution. As of Tuesday, there had been no action taken on account of that letter and Nation noted he was not responsible for the complaint being submitted to City Hall.
Jack Pluff, an owner of the Blu Katt, said early Tuesday afternoon he had not been made aware of the citation from the city. He also said it is up to the closing crew at the Blu Katt to bring in the tables and chairs at night and clean up any mess.
“It certainly will be addressed by the staff,” Pluff said. “They are supposed to clean up every night. It will be addressed.”
Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at 812- 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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Neighbors raise a stink over Katt’s trash
City issues citation to Wabash Avenue nightclub
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