HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Hollidaysburg business is pledging to comply with a preliminary injunction issued Wednesday in Blair County Court prohibiting it from hosting adult cabaret shows.

While an attorney for D’Ottavio’s Italian House/Gran Sasso at 306 Allegheny St. said the business can still host Bodies in Motion, a traveling dance company based in Portage or any similar company, it will comply with the judge’s order so it doesn’t violate the borough’s zoning ordinance.

“They can still be there,” attorney Timothy S. Burns said Wednesday outside court. “They just can’t perform adult cabaret.”

Based on the borough’s zoning ordinance, sexually oriented businesses — with activities involving nudity, sex acts and erotic fondling — are restricted to the borough’s I-2 or General Industrial Zone, subject to permitting requirements.

In handing down the temporary injunction, Senior Judge Pamela Reust of Centre County recognized the borough’s request for the injunction reflected a violation of zoning rules, as maintained by Solicitor Nathan Karn.

“The matter is not directed at the conduct, but the borough’s ability to enforce its zoning ordinance,” Reust said.

The judge also deemed the preliminary injunction to be valid for 30 days, with permanency subject to a subsequent court hearing.

Karn said after Wednesday’s hearing that the borough will follow up with compliance checks in light of the preliminary injunction.

“We’ll be monitoring it and if we find there’s no nudity … or other concerns, the matter may resolve. Or it may not and we’ll have to have another hearing,” Karn said. “Really, all we want them to do is to follow the ordinance.”

Karn filed a notice in mid-October with the county court, seeking an injunction to halt performances of Bodies in Motion or any similar business at the downtown Hollidaysburg restaurant, contending that such an event meets the definition of an adult cabaret, which is restricted to an area zoned for sexually oriented businesses.

In the injunction request and supportive documents, Karn said the borough issued three zoning violation notices to business owner Paolo D’Ottavio, with no response or appeal.

Burns, who asked Ruest to put the injunction request on hold so efforts could be made to determine what’s allowed and what isn’t allowed, argued that D’Ottavio’s hosted Bodies in Motion shows prior to the ones that drew zoning notice violations.

Borough Zoning Officer Andrew Holodnik testified that the violations were issued after it was realized that the shows were becoming regular events.

Burns also asked Holodnik if he or any staff member had been inside during a show. Holodnik said no, but spoke of advertisements for the shows, suggesting nudity and featuring women in lingerie and bikinis.

Karn told Ruest that the matter comes down to a violation of the borough’s zoning ordinance — which D’Ottavio’s could have challenged before the zoning hearing board and didn’t.

Bodies in Motion owner Gary Vaughn Jr. of Portage, who attended Wednesday’s court hearing, said after the court hearing that the judge’s injunction will be observed. But he added that he’s also willing to pursue action in federal court if the borough’s actions infringe on his constitutional rights to operate his business.

Earlier this year, Vaughn pursued a federal court lawsuit against Portage borough that developed from what were described as outdated ordinances. The settlement in that case allowed Bodies in Motion to maintain its headquarters at 631 Main St., Portage, where it offers performances in addition to the performances at various other locations.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.