According to the Wichita Eagle, the Wichita City Council will try again to shut down topless bars and keep new ones from opening -- this time by banning public nudity.
City council has tried so in the past but municipal courts have struck down portions of the city's previous regulations. This time they're trying a different approach - by prohibiting public nudity, except in theatrical productions, university modeling classes, public rest rooms and dressing rooms, hospitals and a handful of other places. Children under age 10 also would be exempt from the law.
Wichita attorney Charlie O'Hara, who has represented most of the topless clubs in the city and county at one time or another, called the proposal "silly," and said there's no problem with public nudity. O'Hara thinks the ordinance is aimed at keeping a topless establishment out of Old Town and the surrounding area. The city has received an application for a cabaret license in the 200 block of South St. Francis, near Old Town. A cabaret license allows live entertainment.
Mayor Bob Knight said he does not want nude or topless entertainment in the downtown area. Many of the larger bars that feature topless dancing are outside the city limits. O'Hara said he's advised clubs to locate there because Sedgwick County officials have "been reasonable."
City officials say the proposed law is not limited to nude and topless entertainment, that it would pertain to any type of public nudity that can be considered a crime. The city is using reports from other cities to show that public nudity has a negative effect on the community, that studies supposedly show increased crime, higher risk of public exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, reduced property values and other problems related to public nudity.
