The owner of a “gentleman’s strip club” in Portage Borough and the town council have apparently resolved a dispute over the constitutionality of local ordinances that ban adult-oriented businesses.

After Gary E. Vaughn Jr. opened his Bodies in Motion Lounge at 631 Main St. last August, borough officials attempted to close the operation by citing a 25-year-old series of ordinances prohibiting “massage parlors, adult oriented businesses like strip clubs, adult toy stores, paraphernalia shops, rap centers, nude wrestling studios, sensitivity centers and escort bureaus.”

Local police at one point even conducted a raid in the effort to close the lounge, which is open on Thursday nights.

Vaughn, who said he is a paralegal, last November filed a federal civil rights lawsuit arguing that the ordinances “as passed, written, and as enforced are clearly in violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

He named the borough manager, the mayor, five council members, the police chief and three police officers as defendants and sought punitive damages of a million dollars from each defendant, for a total of $11 million.

The borough hired Pittsburgh attorney Carl A. Fejko to defend the attack on its ordinances, and U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson set Feb. 27 as the deadline for the borough to answer the lawsuit.

Instead of filing an answer, the borough’s attorney presented a petition to put the lawsuit on hold indefinitely, noting the borough council has agreed to seek repeal of the ordinance if Vaughn agrees to drop his lawsuit.

A “Joint Report to the Court” stated that since Vaughn filed his lawsuit, both sides have “been discussing how to resolve the case without going through litigation.”

“Following a thorough review of the Ordinance at issues, the Borough of Portage’s Borough Council has agreed to consider repealing the Ordinance, provided Plaintiff (Vaughn) agrees in return to dismiss this civil action,” the report stated.

Vaughn, it stated, agrees to execute a stipulation of dismissal after the ordinance has been repealed, according to the report.

In the report sent to Gibson, it was explained that there is a process that must be followed in order to dissolve an ordinance.

The first step in that process occurred during a meeting this week in which council agreed to hold a required public hearing on the issue.

After the hearing, council members can then vote to repeal the ordinance.

It has also been agreed that “The Borough of Portage reserves the right to enact lawful ordinances in the future, including any which might impose lawful restrictions on adult entertainment businesses.”

Vaughn explained that if council does not live up to its agreement to repeal the ordinance, his lawsuit will be re-activated.

The repeal process can take 30 to 60 days, Vaughn explained.

Vaughn said he operates Bodies in Motion as a traveling exotic dance company.

The group travels throughout Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday nights, and he said his company has done shows at locations in Altoona and Hollidaysburg.

On Thursday nights, the company performs at its headquarters in Portage.

“My Lounge is not extremely large,” he said.

But, he noted the business attracts between 70 and 100 customers beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights.

His business, he explained, is controversial.

“This is a business you love and hate. About half of society doesn’t think highly about girls dancing around,” he said.

But, as he pointed out in his lawsuit, “the Supreme Court has ruled that nude performance dancing are forms of expression that, when restricted, require First Amendment review.”

“You can’t bar a business because you don’t like it. … Some people in life think if they don’t like it, it shouldn’t exist,” he argued.

He said if people don’t like his business, they don’t have to come to the club.

But, Vaughn contended, his club “is legal, very clean, and a nice place.”

Gibson has ordered the Vaughn lawsuit “administratively closed,” at least until council can vote on the motion to repeal the ordinance.

The attorneys for the borough could not be reached for comment.