A plan by city Mayor Greg Nickels to set up a special 310 –acre area of land for exotic dance clubs in the city will not get the endorsement of the city Planning Commission, this according to a recent draft response.
The proposition looked to isolate the clubs in the city’s Sodo district "far from almost every resident of the city, grouping them together for efficient policing and code enforcement, and removing them from other adult entertainment uses," the commission said in the report it expects to finalize September 14. The report also pointed out certain disadvantages, including a toll on Sodo industries and the nearby neighborhoods.
The Planning Commission heard dozens of residents of nearby Georgetown and Beacon Hill communities speak against the idea.
The Planning Commission report is only advisory. However, as interpreted by
Post-Intelligencer reporter Angela Galloway, “the political result of the rejection of Nickels' plan could send back to the drawing board a controversial and messy debate that politicos have essentially ducked for 17 years.”
In September of 2005, U.S. District Judge James Robart ruled that the Seattle's 17-year moratorium on new exotic dance clubs was illegal. That decision opened the door for an onslaught of new exotic dance club applications, as the city was forced to remove the moratorium. The city is currently struggling with the plan of where to put the new clubs.
Nickels has also tried to create more stringent rules on area strip clubs in hopes of making it less attractive for new clubs to open in the city. Under the new rules, entertainers are required to remain 4 feet from customers when performing dances for tips. Other changes include new lighting requirements, the wearing of clothing when dancers aren't performing and use of tip containers.
Portions of this courtesy of the Free Speech X-Press, the weekly newsletter of the Free Speech Coalition. More info at www.freespeechcoalition.com.
