Since February of this year, the Los Angeles City Council has been crafting an ordinance initiated by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs the Pubic Safety Committee, that aims to discourage the existence of nude juice bars. The ordinance will be based on similar regulations that were passed and upheld in court in Kent, Wash., and Newport Beach, Calif.
Establishments that allow full nudity, such as nude juice bars, aren't allowed to sell alcohol. Strip clubs sell alcohol, but require limited clothing.
The new regulations, which could be in front of the full council for consideration as early as next week, would require a six-foot "no touch" zone around entertainers at adult business in Los Angeles, making lap dances illegal. It will also become illegal to tip dancers in the traditional manner of placing money within their g-string.
"That's going to probably drive most of the clubs out of Los Angeles. They'll probably have to shut down and move to another city," Troy Mora, director of marketing for Deja Vu, told AVN.com. "The worst part is that they are trying to stop the girls from getting tips."
In addition to the six-foot and no tipping rule, the ordinance would require security guards at all adult businesses, and that video arcades employ janitors. The ordinance also would require that entertainers be on a stage at least 18 inches high with fixed rails at least 30 inches high.
In the proposal to draft the ordinance, it is said that "nude juice bars can encourage drug dealing and acts of prostitution," and cites that unsupported opinion as a reason to draft the law being proposed. Other reasons cited are that nude juice bars "negatively impact" their neighborhoods and introduce large and graphic advertising signs or billboards.
The proposal also suggests that other kinds of crime are encouraged by the existence of nude juice bars and that they place disproportionately high demands on police resources. No explanation of what "other kinds of crime" is given.
If the ordinance passes, dancers could face prostitution charges; the definition of prostitution under state law is "engaging in sexual intercourse or any lewd act between persons for money or other consideration." Dancers in Newport Beach were prosecuted for that reason after that city's "no lap dance" laws were passed.
In 1998, The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 10-foot buffer zone between patron and performer in the Kent, Wash., ordinance. The appeals court reasoned that the 10-foot requirement "does not rob dancers of their forum or their entire audience," thus does not violate free speech.
