City officials said they want to fix a loophole in the law that allowed a strip club to open despite efforts by city and county attorneys who tried to prevent it.
The opening of the New York, New York strip club has angered residents and politicians alike, claiming it will bring a negative element to the area, WMC-TV reported.
Memphis City Council member Carol Chumney said she fears the club will attract organized crime to the community.
In March, Memphis Code Enforcement officials mistakenly issued the club a certificate of occupancy but when they tried to retract it the next day, the club filed a lawsuit against the city and county. Government attorneys told a judge that the previous club had no business license, even went months without power and its mail was returned unopened.
But witnesses on the stand said that Code Enforcement issued at least two other occupancy permits to adult businesses since the moratorium went into effect. The Judge then ruled that New York, New York was merely a new name for an old business, and should be “grandfathered” in and be permitted to open despite the moratorium.
Chumney said the city isn’t trying to close down adult businesses, but trying to keep the city from becoming the “strip club capitol of America.”
