NORFOLK, Va. — The owners of nightclub Scotty Quixx are suing the city of Norfolk, asking a judge to reverse the city's decision to take away the business' entertainment permit.
Scotty Quixx initially went up for a permit revocation hearing in September, after Norfolk's city manager said the council would be cracking down on permit violations to reduce crime in Downtown Norfolk.
The letter Norfolk sent to Scotty Quixx said its meals tax reports to the city and the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority didn't match.
After getting that letter, co-owner Al Ragas told 13News Now it was vague and suspicious.
"It doesn't tell us when we did that discrepancy. And if it was, if there was something we did wrong, we were never given the opportunity to fix it," he said.
By Sept. 27, the nightclub's conditional use permit had been pulled. That's the permission a business needs to sell alcohol and stay open until 2 a.m.
Owner Chris Johnson said that means they were essentially shut down -- because they don't have a lunch crowd, and couldn't meet the business' expenses with a six-hour window of operations.
Documents filed in the Norfolk Circuit Court in October claim the city council "failed to follow its own policies and acted upon unjustified animus against, and stereotypes about, nightlife bars and restaurants in the Downtown Norfolk area."
At the Mighty Dream Forum this week, Pharrell Williams told reporters he didn't think those Downtown developments were fair.
"If they had really a problem and really cared about helping they’d talk to these people and educate them, and say ‘This isn’t going to fly,'" Williams said.
In the lawsuit, the business says there is a resolution the city council could have used to rectify the difference in the two meals tax reports in a "significantly less draconian" way.
The lawsuit also alleges that city leaders pointed to a shooting "inside Scotty Quixx in 2019" as part of the reason for increased scrutiny, and said there was no such shooting.
In January 2019, a shooting happened in a crowd outside the restaurant.
The two corporations representing the restaurant are asking for a jury trial, and ultimately, at least $1 million each in damages from the city and city council, along with attorney fees.