Wilkes-barre Zoning Board Oks Hookah Lounge And Bottle Club

WILKES-BARRE — The city’s Zoning Hearing Board approved a restaurant owner’s request Wednesday to add a hookah lounge and bottle club to his business in a South Main Street shopping plaza. Paulino Nunez, who owns La Villa restaurant at 369 S. Main St., had originally wanted to open a bring-your-own-bottle, after hours club, but said he withdrew when he found out it wasn’t allowed. He resubmitted his application and asked for a special exception to open the lounge and for variances to significantly reduce the buffer zone between the bottle club and nearby residences and churches. City zoning calls for a bottle club to be located 1,000 feet from an area zoned R-3 residential and from churches.