WASHINGTON, D.C. - The D.C. Council put off a measure that would tighten controls on drinking establishments which some council members feel might attract minors by voting to allow the continued operation of area strip clubs.
Some clubs have been moved due to the recent construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium and other city developments. Under the decision, only two of the six displaced strip clubs can relocate to another commercial zone.
"This is a victory for adult entertainment because they survived," council member Jim Graham told The Post. "Without this bill, they were dead in the water."
Graham also authored the tabled bill which aimed to control underage drinking. According to the report, there was little discussion before the proposal was rejected. Graham's bill would have prevented people under 18 from entering nightclubs that serve alcohol after 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends, except in July and August, when the curfew would be midnight every day.
Residents from Ward 5 — the area of Washington where many of the clubs were looking to relocate — packed the court house, donning t-shirts that read "No Nude Bars or Strip Clubs in Ward 5."
Approved by a 9 - 4 initial vote, the legislation would allow nude clubs to relocate in commercial zones (including within a 5,000-foot radius of the new baseball stadium), but mandates a 1,200-foot buffer between clubs and a 600-foot buffer between the clubs and churches, schools, libraries and playgrounds.
Council member Harry Thomas Jr., who made six changes to the legislation but still voted against it, said he voted that way because "you have to look at the whole city while we protect our ward. We wouldn't be good neighbors if we dumped it on other people in other wards."
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