The owner of a strip club here is vowing to fight efforts to shut down his business.
Jamal Haddad, owner of the Frisky Kitty strip club, told the Los Angeles Daily News that the city has been trying to shut down his club for the past eight years, claiming its in violation of a zoning ordinance barring the club from operating within 500 feet of residential areas, schools, churches parks and other public facilities.
Arguments on the case are scheduled to begin today in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The club had operated as a bikini bar in the 1990s until it went topless in 1998. But trouble soon started when the club went completely nude, forcing it to give up its liquor license.
At about that time, city officials told Haddad that the club was within 500 feet of some nearby apartments so the dancers were ordered to cover up with pasties and g-strings. But Haddad refused, saying the club was not in violation of the zoning ordinance, taking issue with the way the city measured the distance between the apartments and the club.
But Councilman Dennis Zine, who represents the district, was unmoved, saying the club must abide by zoning regulations or face closing.
Although Judge Dzinta Janavs denied a temporary restraining order against the club recently, he is scheduled to hear arguments on an injunction to force the club to close.
The club had been operating without a license for the past several years, but all that will come to a head when a ruling goes down, said Haddad, who has grown weary of his battles with the city.
