TAMPA, Fla. – A federal judge has ruled that three stringent Hillsborough County ordinances governing adult businesses are legal.
According to a recent report, if the judge’s ruling stands, dancers at Tampa strip clubs will have to stay six feet away from patrons, and the selling or drinking of alcohol would be prohibited at adult businesses. In addition, workers at adult video stores would have to pass background checks and private viewing booths would be completely prohibited.
“There is no question from a reading of the three ordinances that they do not constitute a ban on sexually oriented businesses, but rather regulations on time, place and manner,” U.S. Judge Richard A. Lazzara wrote in his ruling.
Lazzara’s ruling comes after area adult businesses sued the city, calling the new rules — which were adopted in Sept. of 2006 — unconstitutional. Those businesses plan to appeal the ruling, according to Luke Lirot, a First Amendment attorney representing the three Tampa bikini bars that the ordinance would effect.
According to the report, Lirot said he doesn't expect county officials to start enforcing the ordinances until after all legal challenges are exhausted. He said he found Lazzara’s ruling “repugnant to the First Amendment.”
Last month, the county paid an area strip club $49,000 in another court case. The club has accused Hillsborough county of manipulating its procedures to try to keep the club closed in 2006.
