Facing a Nov. 2 deadline that would end a moratorium on new strip clubs, the City Council is considering a number of new regulations aimed at restricting strip clubs.
While the moratorium approved last month to block a proposed strip club in east Pasadena is expiring, Council members have agreed to hurry in new restrictions on where adult businesses can be located, the Pasadena Star News reported this week.
But Santa Monica-based attorney Roger Diamond, who represents the club’s proponent, said the measure was aimed at illegally stalling his client’s plans to open a club at a former Shakey’s restaurant. But he cautioned that the city could be in legal trouble if it bars the use of the former restaurant location as a strip club.
In 2003, Pasadena nearly lost a court challenge by another adult business by telling the 9th District Court of Appeals that it had other areas open for use by adult businesses.
But to prove that it had not violated the First Amendment by zoning adult businesses out of the area, the city listed several available locations, including the former Shakey’s location at 2180 E. Foothill Blvd.
Last month, Diamond filed a lawsuit, claiming the city’s moratorium is infringing on his client’s First Amendment rights.
The city Planning Department is already considering increased distance requirements between adult businesses and residential areas, along with setbacks from adult establishments.
A recommendation on the proposed rules is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission on Nov. 9, and could reach the council by Nov. 13, Councilman Steve Haderlein said.
City officials have maintained that they are merely trying to mitigate potential problems created by adult businesses through new regulations.
