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<p>HAZLETON &#8212; No more blowing smoke.</p><p>Police, zoning officers and firefighters converged on the Xtacy Hookah Lounge on Wednesday afternoon, shutting down the East Diamond Avenue business more than a month after it had been deemed a nuisance property by the city Zoning Board due to its late hours, noise and suspected criminal activity.</p><p>&#8220;Officers would drive by every night, well into the night, and the place would be filled,&#8221; police Chief Frank DeAndrea said. &#8220;citations were filed and are on record.&#8221;</p><p>Perhaps not surprisingly, the move did not sit well with the lounge&#8217;s Spanish-speaking owner, who said he believed the shutdown was discriminatory.</p><p>&#8220;The boss man police chief came in and told me I couldn&#8217;t operate my business because I couldn&#8217;t speak English,&#8221; Keilly Origenes Andujar told reporters, in English.</p><p>DeAndrea said language had nothing to do with the closure.</p><p>&#8220;For more than thirty days since the zoning hearing, we heard nothing,&#8221; said DeAndrea, &#8220;not from Andujar and not from his attorney.&#8221;</p><p>In fact, DeAndrea advised Andujar before boarding up the front door and posing the closing notice that it had been 32 days since the zoning board had met.</p><p>DeAndrea said that at the July 9 meeting, Andujar had been provided with a registered interpreter &#8212; and that his Andujar&#8217;s attorney, Charles Laputka, had actually held up the original notice, confirming it had been received.</p><p>On Wednesday, DeAndrea presented Andujar with a letter directing them to cease operations of the lounge until it came into compliance with zoning requirements.</p><p>Andujar&#8217;s response through an interpreter and friend were that he did not understand the original notice and that he his limited understanding of the English language had thwarted his ability to understand and respond to the legal directives.</p><p>No appeal was filed in the matter, the chief said.</p><p>DeAndrea said that if Andujar is willing to work with the city, there are a variety of options he could take in order to bring the business into compliance with the city&#8217;s zoning requirements.</p><p>&#8220;That might include increased security, limited hours of operation and a more stringent a oversight of alcohol use,&#8221; said the chief. &#8220;We&#8217;re more than willing to work with him.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea, left, speaks to an interpreter to tell business owner Keilly Origenes Andujar that his business is being boarded up after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city zoning board. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah034.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea, left, speaks to an interpreter to tell business owner Keilly Origenes Andujar that his business is being boarded up after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city zoning board. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah014.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Xtacy Hookah Lounge, on East Diamond Avenue in Hazleton, is boarded up on Wednesday after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city zoning board. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah014.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Xtacy Hookah Lounge, on East Diamond Avenue in Hazleton, is boarded up on Wednesday after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city zoning board. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah024.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Business owner Keilly Origenes Andujar, left, of the Xtacy Hookah Lounge on East Diamond Avenue, watches as his Hazleton business is boarded up on Wednesday after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city zoning board. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah024.jpg</photo2><caption2>Business owner Keilly Origenes Andujar, left, of the Xtacy Hookah Lounge on East Diamond Avenue, watches as his Hazleton business is boarded up on Wednesday after it was deemed a nuisance property by the city zoning board. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah044.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Andujar </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah044.jpg</photo3><caption3>Andujar </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah054.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea posts a condemned sign on the Xtacy Hookah Lounge. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_hookah054.jpg</photo4><caption4>Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea posts a condemned sign on the Xtacy Hookah Lounge. </caption4><photoCredit4>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Geri Gibbons</p><p>ggibbons@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Geri Gibbons at 570-991-6117 or on Twitter @TLGGibbons</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Hazleton shuts down troubled Xtacy Hookah Lounge