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Salem, OR (KPTV ) — The owner of a strip club in Portland bought a massive mansion in Salem and has a vision to turn it into a bed and breakfast.
But that business idea has neighbors saying, “not in my backyard.”
Carol Lee bought the 21,000-square-foot mansion in December 2017 for $2.5 million.
Lee and her business partner Johnny Diablo Žūklė say they saw opportunity in the elaborate real estate which boasts seven bedrooms, a pool, gym, game room and several other amenities.
“You just fall in love with this place,” Lee said.
The initial plan when Lee bought the home was for retirement.
But she says that changed quickly when she and Žūklė came up with the idea to turn it into a bed and breakfast.
“We just thought, you know, this is a beautiful place, I’d like to share with everybody,” Lee said. “And I already got the name for that – called Chateau Vegan, the vegan bed and breakfast of Salem, Oregon.”
In 2018, they put their plans into action applying for a license through Marion County. That initial request was approved.
But it was quickly met with neighbor pushback.
“This is not merely a bed and breakfast, what this is a boutique hotel and expansion of Ms. Lee’s hospitality business which is mainly located in Portland,” neighbor Jana Gunn said.
Neighbors cite concerns over Lee’s ownership of the strip club Casa Diablo in Portland.
“I think that that drives suspicion. Now suspicion is not evidence, it’s not even sufficient for probable cause but it’s an emotional issue,” neighbor Robert Gunn said.
Robert and Jana are two of several neighbors who filed an appeal to Lee’s permit.
That appeal went to a hearings officer who ultimately reversed the permit approval.
Lee fired back with an appeal of her own to the Marion County Board of Commissioners. It ultimately upheld that decision.
But it’s now been appealed at the state level with the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
A decision from LUBA could be made within a month.
Lee and Žūklė say if it’s not approved as a bed and breakfast they’ll have a lot of friends over instead.
But not only do neighbors question the nature of the business, they say traffic would be an issue and the business doesn’t fit in the neighborhood.
“This is a very family-oriented area,” Robert Gunn said. “There are scores of children up and down this road which is about a mile to a mile and a half long.”
Lee, however, is adamant that her business goals are genuine and she wants to be a good neighbor.
“You know, strip club is one other business and it’s legal business. We’re not doing illegal things whatsoever,” Lee said. “I just want to open my dream bed and breakfast and run a peaceful business.”
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