The City of Fredericton plans reverse its controversial decision to spend $150,000 to lease a downtown bar until its zoning as a possible strip club expires.

"I have discovered that we no longer have to lease the property and the decision will be reversed at the next council meeting," Mayor Brad Woodside stated in an email to CBC News on Friday.

Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside says council will reverse its decision about leasing the former iRock property at its next meeting. (CBC) Woodside did not explain the reason in the email and could not immediately be reached for further comment.

Earlier this week, the mayor defended council's decision to spend the money on leasing the former iRock property on King Street for five months in the face of criticism the city was using taxpayers' money to legislate morality.

"The fact of the matter is, with respect to this kind of licence, it only creates one problem for us — and that is organized crime," Woodside had said, noting iRock is the only property left in the city that still has an exotic dancing licence.

"That is a criminal element that could utilize this piece of property with this licence. That would be counterproductive to everything that we're trying to do in the City of Fredericton," he said.