GUILDERLAND — The town has gone to Albany County Supreme Court to shut down a late-night venue at 1434 Western Ave.

Papers were filed on Feb. 18 by the town’s attorney, James Melita, against Kent Hansen, who owns the property; Joshua White, who leases the property; and The Back Door Albany, the name of the venue.

The court papers also list fictitious names — ABC Corporation, and John Doe and Jane Doe — asserting “the real names being unable to be ascertained after diligent efforts.”

“Despite performing a corporation search with the New York State Department of State, as well as a search for a certificate of doing business under an assumed name with the Albany County Clerk’s Office, no further information was able to be ascertained regarding the business status of The Backdoor,” Melita writes.

The defendants have 30 days after the summons is served to answer the complaint.

Joshua White said, when called by The Enterprise on Tuesday, that he didn’t have time to talk but would later.

The two-story building at 1424 is on busy Route 20 in a Business Non-Retail Professional District. A dog-grooming business is on the first floor and an auto-repair shop is next door. Residential houses are across the four-lane highway.

“Commercial entertainment venues are not an allowed use in BNRP District,” the court filings say, adding that White uses his “second-floor residential unit” for this purpose.

The papers also assert that the defendants removed the kitchen from the “dwelling unit,” which violates the state’s Property Maintenance Code. 

The papers include a copy of White’s lease, which says he pays a monthly rent of $700, and a copy of the Feb. 16, 2007 sale of the property from Judith Vener to Kent Hansen for $340,000.

According to Albany County assessment rolls, the property at 1434 Western Ave., with a full-market value of $716,800, is owned by Hansen and Vener of Rensselaer.

Vener told The Enterprise a month ago she no longer owns the property. She had owned it previously, she said. “When it was in my name, it was used as a heating-supply business,” said Vener.

She said, until The Enterprise called her, she had been unaware of any problems with the property. Hansen could not be reached for comment.

Social-media posts show The Back Door as a pop-up venue, not as a nightclub with regular hours but rather a place that can be booked by groups or individuals wanting to hold a party or host a performance.

TheBackdoorAlbany website pictures a large, bare room billed as “a multipurpose event space with the ability to adapt to any event needs.”

Court papers describe events posted on The Backdoor Albany website hosted at 1434 Western Ave., including “The Smoke Fest” on Oct. 18, 2021, “Trick or Cheeks” on Oct. 31, 2021, “The Panty Drop 2021 New Year’s Eve Bash on Dec. 31, 2021, and say the venue has been used as recently as Feb. 12. 2022.

Affidavits are included from a neighbor and from the town’s zoning inspector.

Bryan Cady, who lives across the street at 1439 Western Ave., says he observes security guards at the front door “valet parking and strobe lights within the unit.”

Cady says he is often awakened “in the early morning hours to loud music, fighting, and people in the street,” and frequently calls the Guilderland Police. “I wish to live in a peaceful neighborhood once again,” says Cady.

Lou Vitelli, the zoning inspector, says he advised Hansen on May 6, 2020 that the property was being used as “an illegal nightclub” and Hansen “indicated that he was working to help the tenant relocate to a commercial unit in Colonie.”

After receiving continued weekly complaints from town residents, Vitelli said he sent a violation letter on June 30, 2020. He has continued to receive complaints as recently as for a Feb. 12, 2022 event, Vitelli said.

At the Feb. 1 Guilderland Town Board meeting, when the board unanimously authorized Melita to go to court, Melita had said of Hansen, the landlord, “He tells us what we want to hear … that he’s fixing the situation.” But then, time goes by, Melita said, and there’s more police activity, more residential complaints.