Pasadena Club Agrees to Stop Topless Dancing
PASADENA, Calif. — Pleasures Gentlemen's Club has agreed to end topless dancing and alcohol sales by Jan. 25. The agreement came as the city was preparing to enforce court orders against the club — which was ordered to stop offering topless dancing and alcohol sales by a Superior Court judge — with a contempt proceeding.
Pleasures will post a $10,000 bond to remain in operation until Jan. 25. There is no word whether the club will continue to operate after that date.
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ILLINOIS
Forest Park Adopts Sexually Explicit Business Rules
FOREST PARK, Ill. — Facing the possibility of a strip club opening, the village council unanimously adopted an almost 30-page list of regulations for sexually explicit businesses at its Nov. 26 meeting.
The rules mandate operating hours of 10 a.m.-11 p.m., prohibit lap dancing, mandate a six-foot distance between performers and customers and prohibit tipping performers. Individual employees would have to register annually for a $50 license, requiring fingerprints, criminal history and other personal information such as stage names, Social Security number and home telephone number.
Chris Wessels and Ken DeGori submitted a request Nov. 7 for a liquor license and an entertainment license and, according to public records, plan to open a 30,000-square-foot adult entertainment club in a warehouse owned by Wessels, which was excluded from a new zoning district that allows sexually explicit businesses.
DeGori declined to comment on the new ordinance specifically, but said it would be challenged in court.
"It's unfortunate that the council saw it this way, and it's unfortunate because it's going to cost folks a lot of money," DeGori said. "I mean a lot of money."
Currently operating businesses selling adult magazines or renting adult videos will have 75 days to comply with the new licensing regulations. Individual employees will be given 60 days. Those deadlines will be triggered if the company receives at least 20 percent of its income from adult materials, devotes at least 20 percent of its floor space to the display of those items or at least 20 percent of its inventory is devoted to sexually explicit material.
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KENTUCKY
County Defines 34 Legal Sites for Adult Shops
BURLINGTON, Ky. — The Boone County Planning Commission identified 34 sites where sexually oriented businesses could be located under proposed new zoning regulations during a public hearing on Nov. 29.
"We're trying to kind of stay ahead of the curve in this matter," Chairman Arnold Caddell said.
Under current regulations, a sexually oriented business cannot locate within 1,000 feet of any parcel of land or building used or occupied as a residence, government building or community facility, child daycare, church or religious facility, hospital, library, a business that serves alcoholic beverages and has a local/state liquor sales license, public and private parks, recreational facility, public or private school, senior center or other sexually oriented business.
A planning commission committee will meet to discuss the regulations Dec. 12 and the full commission could vote on it as early as Dec. 19.
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MARYLAND
Worcester County Considering Adult Business Regulations
SNOW HILL, Md. — County Commissioners introduced three bills this week to regulate adult businesses before a moratorium enacted in May runs out. A public hearing will be held Dec. 7 and the laws may be voted on that day.
One of the laws would regulate location, requiring adult businesses to be in industrial zones and a given distance from defined locations — including residences — and other adult businesses, and the law would also regulate signage. A second law would ban sexually oriented massage businesses.
The third law would require that all parts of a sexually oriented business must be under surveillance by an actual employee at all times, regulate lighting inside and out, and require that merchandise not be visible from outside the building. Nude or partially nude performers would have to be six feet away from any other person, including other employees.
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NORTH CAROLINA
Adult Bookstore Move Voted Down
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A zoning board rejected a plan that would allow Central Avenue Video to move to a north Charlotte location that was closer than the mandated 1,500-foot buffer between it and the nearest residence.
The decision was made at a special zoning board hearing Tuesday.
"The purpose of this hearing is not to gather public opinion," Board Of Adjustments Chairman Andy Zoutewelle said. "Instead it is to gather evidence that relates to whether the property owner ought to be granted a variance from the strict letter of the regulations of the zoning ordinance."
Central Avenue Video now has 30 days to appeal the decision. Its owner said he'll continue to look for a location that meets the legal guidelines.
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TEXAS
County Approves Adult Store
AMARILLO, Texas — County commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a sexually oriented business license for Zone d'Erotica to move into an old adult video bookstore. The approval passed after the commissioners were advised that contesting the license would land the county in federal court by Assistant County Attorney Dave Kemp. Kemp said that despite the business being within 700 feet of a residence, the county's case would not hold up in court.
"It would be a tough fight, I think," Kemp said, adding that the previous store did not cause a huge nuisance.
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ENGLAND
Eastbourne Club Told to Reapply for Nude Dancing Permit
EASTBOURNE, England — Borough councilors have told the Minnesota Jax club to get legal advice and resubmit its request to rewrite the club's license. The club wants its dancers to go completely nude instead of the currently legal topless rule, and be able to touch customers instead of being required to keep a 1-meter distance.
Manager Darren Bush said the changes were necessary to update the club and poker venue and keep up with the competition, and said that although it would be the first fully nude club in Eastbourne, it was already the norm in other towns like Hastings and Brighton.
"I don't personally think it is so out of the question," Bush said. "There are already topless girls all along the beach, and the 1-meter rule is just unpractical."
Bush said he also wants to offer live music nights for upcoming local bands, extend opening hours until 3 a.m. to accommodate poker players and use the silhouetted image of a bikini-clad girl as part of the club's advertising.
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