PLEASANT PRAIRIE — Texas Jay’s owner George Lyons lost his bid Monday to have his liquor license transferred to a new location for the strip club after the Village Board voted unanimously not to renew it.

As a consequence, Lyons’ application for a new cabaret license became moot because village ordinances require cabaret licenses to be attached to liquor licenses.

During a public hearing lasting more than two hours, board members heard testimony and reviewed evidence presented by village staff, Lyons and his attorney, Ray Dall’Osto of Milwaukee, much of it seeking to establish who knew what, when they knew it and whether Lyons could rectify a long list of enumerated deficiencies within a reasonable enough time period to warrant renewing the liquor license.

Community Development Director Jean Werbie, Fire Chief Paul Guilbert and Building Inspection Superintendent John Sorensen presented testimony listing more than 64 deficiencies regarding the building and property at 12627 Sheridan Road, where Lyons seeks to reopen Texas Jay’s after selling the former club location at I-94 and Highway C to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in 2007.

Deficiencies ranged from noxious weeds to the building itself, a former auto body shop. Village officials said the building does not meet requirements necessary to convert it from its former use to a nightclub, tavern or restaurant operation.

Guilbert presented a report listing numerous fire code violations.

Dall’Osto agreed the deficiencies listed were accurate, but he asked the board to consider that Lyons delayed correcting the problems for five months while Lyons and the village were in court after Lyons filed suit following revocation of his license in December. In May, the court ruled in Lyons’ favor, declaring the village acted arbitrarily and capriciously in revoking his liquor license. That action reinstated Lyons’ license through June 30.

The board action Monday night was not about revocation but about non-renewal beyond that date.

Dall’Osto asked the board to grant Lyons a conditional license based on Lyons rectifying the deficiencies. Under questioning by Dall’Osto, village officials agreed that in 20 years of operating Texas Jay’s (formerly Club 94, Lyons had always been compliant with village codes and in rectifying any deficiencies.

Werbie acknowledged that other establishments in the village had been granted conditional liquor licenses, but she said they typically entailed minor deficiencies and involved a building in operation.

In the end, while emphasizing Lyons can reapply for liquor and cabaret licenses, as well as an adult-use license necessary to feature exotic dancers, board members were unswayed by Dall’Osto’s arguments that Lyons would correct all the problems with 90 days to seven months.

Nor were they moved by Dall’Osto’s plea to grant the conditional license because without it Lyons could not secure the financing needed to move forward with work on the property.

A number of residents pleaded with the board not to renew Lyons’ license, citing moral concerns, the potential impact on property values, possible contribution to increases in drunken driving and, in one man’s case, the alleged dissolution of marriages.

In voting unanimously not to renew Lyons’ liquor license, the board appeared to rely on Werbie’s contention that with so many deficiencies outstanding, there was no way Lyons could bring the property into compliance within a reasonable period of time.