Lap dances are here to stay after Los Angeles City Council members chose the better part of valor Tuesday and agreed to compromise with strip club owners in Los Angeles rather than have their ordinance that basically would have been the end of strip clubs in Los Angeles placed on a ballot in 2005.
The Los Angeles Times described the move as a “hasty retreat” that was forced by the deft political maneuvering as strip club owners, who “demonstrated both the volatility of the sex industry as a political issue and the effectiveness of the referendum process when wielded by a well-financed group.”
The ordinance called for dancers to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from their patrons, effectively outlawing lap dancing. The ordinance also called for the removal of VIP rooms, yearly licensing requirements, no direct tipping to dancers, and would require security guards to be present at all times.
Days after the ordinance was passed unanimously in September by the council, a petition drive began to get the ordinance placed a ballot.
In October, over 100,000 signatures were collected and turned in to the city clerk, enough to force a referendum on the ordinance.
The council members are trying to keep some the regulations, though it is not yet clear that the strip club and arcade owners who financed the petition drive are willing to accept a compromise.
As approved in September and set to take effect Jan. 1, the new city law would have required strippers to stay at least six feet away from customers in the city's adult businesses, effectively outlawing lap dancing. It also would have banned direct tipping of dancers, prohibited private "VIP" rooms and required clubs to renew their permits every year and to hire state-licensed security guards.
According to the Times, the ban of private VIP rooms, the prohibition of touching breasts and genitals, an annual license renewal policy, and the security-guard requirement are the aspects of the ordinance that the council would like to see stay in place.
The council will vote on the compromise on Friday.
Under city law, council members have until Friday either repeal the law or place it on the 2005 ballot. They have already missed the November 12deadline required to have placed the ballot on the Democratic presidential primary vote in March of 2004.
For the full Los Angeles Times story, click here.
