The businessman behind a new Hooters in Dartmouth, N.S., vows to open the restaurant next month, despite a stop-work order and opposition from some neighbours.

Andre LeBlanc said he will complete the required paperwork he failed to do earlier so the restaurant can open on Main Street in January.

As for the critics, he said they simply don't understand what the restaurant is about.

"It's a neighbourhood family restaurant. I'd be happy to show them and invite them in. I wonder what they're complaining about, I wonder if they've ever been in one," LeBlanc told CBC News on Tuesday.

The chain serves a typical menu of hamburgers and wings, but served by waitresses in tight tank tops and shorts. Its slogan is "delightfully tacky yet unrefined."

The Halifax Regional Municipality shut down renovations Tuesday, saying the developer failed to get a building permit in time.

Coun. Andrew Younger, who represents the district, said Hooters is not the kind of restaurant he'd like to see on Main Street and that "those sorts of businesses" make it difficult to attract higher-end businesses to the area.

"I'm aware that there are a number of businesses and residences that are concerned about the type of business they perceive Hooters to be, but this really has nothing to do with this," he said.

Not only did LeBlanc fail to file documents, Younger said, but the parking lot is too small for a restaurant of that size.

LeBlanc said he had no idea that was an issue.

Younger said plans are in the works to redesign Main Street, which has a strip club, to make the area less desirable for businesses catering to a mainly adult market.