PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance has upheld a recent decision by Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten that closed down District 721, at least until the nightclub on Welfare Road gets a new operational licence.
The ministerial decision of September 2 ordered the closure of District 721 due to a missing operational licence. This followed about a week after a contingent of TEATT inspectors and law enforcement officials closed down District 721 because of excessive noise and music being played past midnight.
The previous licence, according to the decision, expired when the open-air nightclub completely burned down in January 2023, and a new licence is required because a new building has replaced the old one. According to Article 40 of the National Ordinance on Permits, an operational licence automatically expires when a permit holder loses their premises for more than a year.
In an emergency hearing on Tuesday, District 721’s lawyer Monique Hofman of Bermon Law Office argued that the previous operational licence was still valid.
Hofman argued that her clients did not lose their business location, as they kept paying the land lease throughout 2023. She also pointed out that District 721 received a building permit to reconstruct the nightclub in December 2023, within a year of the devastating fire.
Although the structure is newly built, Hofman argued that it should not be seen as new because it is “exactly the same” as the one that burned down.
However, the judge dismissed these arguments and sided with the TEATT minister in his verdict on Wednesday afternoon. The judge ruled that District 721 had lost their premises for more than a year, noting that the definition of “premises” in the National Ordinance on Permits includes both the area and structure.
“The fact that a building permit was granted within a year does not change this. Having a building permit is not the same as having a location. It is also irrelevant that the new building would be the same as the old building,” the judge said in his verdict. “The premises was destroyed [in January 2023 – Ed.] and then, more than a year later [in June 2024], there was [the end of] reconstruction. In this case, a new permit is required under the law.”
Wednesday’s verdict means that District 721 has to remain closed until it applies for and receives a new operational licence.
The nightclub could also appeal, pinning its hope that another judge in a non-urgent substantive hearing will overturn Wednesday’s verdict. However, this could take months, and the closure order would remain in effect all that time.
