Soap Box Strip Clubs close to getting shut down

May 12, 2007, 11:34PM
How strip clubs plan to dance around law
If entertainers wear bikinis, some cabarets would be able to avoid being shut down by city

Facing a looming city crackdown on sexually oriented businesses, some strip clubs in Houston have a fallback strategy to keep their operations open: requiring their dancers to cover up.

A little.

Topless and fully nude clubs could avoid regulation altogether if their dancers wear bikinis, or even skimpier opaque coverings, allowing them to get around the "sexually oriented" classification, police and city officials acknowledged.

That would allow the clubs to remain open at their current locations, despite an ordinance now prohibiting them from operating within 1,500 feet of churches, schools, parks and residential areas.

"If they do, that's within the law," said Capt. Steve Jett, who heads the Houston police vice division, which regulates the clubs, along with adult bookstores, "modeling" studios and other places now targeted under the ordinance.

"If they don't, we've got investigations already going, and we will continue those investigations and make arrests in the fairly near future," he said.

The clubs' strategy has been under consideration for some time, as the deep-pocketed leaders of Houston's adult industry have waged a court battle with the city since a tougher ordinance was passed in 1997.

A federal judge ruled in March that the city could enforce the location restrictions in the ordinance, a provision that could keep so-called sex businesses from operating in large swaths of Houston's core.

After promising aggressive enforcement in the wake of the ruling, the city mailed more than 120 such businesses letters on Thursday, notifying them that they must close their operations or face criminal or civil penalties. Employees and owners could face Class A misdemeanor charges punishable by a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

At least two clubs have requested a stay of enforcement with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

But the bikini loophole offers a contingency to dozens of topless and nude clubs, known as cabarets, should that effort fail.

"In the industry, there has been significant discussion about how businesses could change their method of operation and become compliant under the ordinance," said the owner at one of Houston's largest topless clubs who asked for anonymity out of fear that his employees would be targeted first.

Would customers still visit?

"If you have the proper coverage, then it takes you out of the ordinance," said Nelson Hensley, a lawyer who recently filed state lawsuits on behalf of some adult businesses related to amortization, a process of allowing them to recoup their investments before closing or moving.

With bikinis, the clubs would be able to operate anywhere, subject to state alcohol regulations and local deed restrictions, city lawyers said. They also wouldn't have to comply with other restrictions in the sexually oriented businesses ordinance, such as rules prohibiting close contact between entertainers and patrons.

What's not clear is whether those customers, used to seeing topless or nude entertainers, will stop visiting the establishments.

"I still think it will be a profitable business," said Thomas Venza, a manager at Centerfolds Adult Entertainment in the 6100 block of Richmond.

But some who support the ordinance disagree.

"They're going to be trying to adapt an ad-hoc business plan to an existing format. That isn't going to work," said City Councilman Adrian Garcia, a former police officer who chairs the council's public safety committee. "At some point, customers will be looking for the real thing, and they will be going somewhere else."

Former Councilman Jew Don Boney, who helped craft the ordinance a decade ago, said he doesn't believe the city legally can prevent a business from featuring bikini-clad women.

That doesn't mean he approves, he said.

"This is not really about what part of the body is exposed, from my perspective. It is about the kind of behavior," he said. "We've got some issues with our social values and norms that I think are unhealthy for the nation. I fully support adults' rights to behavior that I would not condone, but we have to be very careful about what we're doing to our society."

Industry leaders disagree, saying the businesses are constitutionally protected establishments with a broad customer base that's reflected by the millions of dollars in sales, beverage and property taxes they pay government.

No loophole for bookstores

Modeling studios or spas, which police say can serve as fronts for prostitution, also would no longer be able to feature topless or nude employees if they are located within restricted areas.

Despite the loophole, Councilwoman Toni Lawrence said the ordinance still is important. She said she believes it will help neighborhoods and businesses opposed to having establishments nearby.

"This is a chess match," she said.

"Sometimes you lose the battle, but the big picture is that you want to win the war."

Martin Ziddell, the owner of Dare Wear, a lingerie and clothing store in the 6300 block of Westheimer, said he fears that the crackdown could have a ``ripple effect'' on other businesses.

His customers include ``many dancers'' from nearby clubs, he said.

The crackdown ``is not going to affect just those businesses, but many of the other businesses in this area, who rely on the incomes of people who work as dancers, waitresses and bartenders,'' Ziddell said. ``Fortunately for the local economy, the people who work in those businesses make good money. And they spend it."