Lexington strip bar ordinance continues epic struggle
Courts give on-again, off-again rulings, guaranteeing a third year of debate
From Kentucky Citizen Digest, May, 1999

After almost two years of deliberation, Fayette Circuit Court Judge John Adams ruled on Feb. 17 that major portions of the strip-bar regulation ordinance passed in 1997 were well within the prerogative of the Lexington City Council.Then, on March 31, a three-judge panel hearing an appeal from bar owners ruled that the entire ordinance would have to be approved by Adams before any of the portions could be enforced.

Adam’s February ruling culminated over two years of citizen and City Council activity focused on stemming the domination of “adult” sex businesses in some areas of the city.Now that the panel has ruled, the enforcement of any part of the ordinance is postponed pending a final ruling by Adams.For this decision, the city has already filed a motion but no time frame can be anticipated.

In addition, even if Adams rules favorably, court watchers still anticipate a full appeal of the entire ordinance to the Court of Appeals after his decision.This would ensure that the entire strip bar issue would extend well into its third year of debate.

After the initial ruling by Adams, Mayor Pam Miller, who has stood unswervingly on the issue, predicted the ongoing nature of the battle, saying on Feb. 17,“We won this round... but there may be more rounds.”

Those in the know definitely anticipate more.This perspective is confirmed by strip bar owners.“We will continue to move through the upper courts as long as the appellate process will allow,” said Walter Brown, Jr., owner of Thee [sic] Clubhouse and leader of the coalition of strip bar owners that challenged the ordinance in 1997.“To the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary — I’ve already prepared to go that far.”

Momentum for the ordinance reached a crescendo after a town meeting hosted by The Family Foundation on Jan. 28, 1997.Over 750 citizens came to hear Mayor Pam Miller, County Attorney Margaret Kannensohn, and Police ChiefLarry Walsh each address the concern from the vantage of their offices.

At the meeting, Kannensohn reported that police were responding to 13 calls per week from the Lexington strip bars alone.The calls, she said, involved robbery, narcotics, theft, prostitution, DUI, public drunkenness and assault.In addition, in the several years prior to the town meeting, three dancers had died violent deaths and one club owner was murdered in his own club.

Shortly after the town meeting support for the ordinance was widespread.Several City Council members reported they had received several hundred phone calls.One said that he had received over 200 calls with only one against the regulations.The ordinance ultimately passed the City Council unanimously.

During the initial debate in 1997, Services Committee Chairperson Sandy Shafer carried the bulk of the burden as the ordinance was drafted and then moved through her committee on to the full City Council.Shafer has remained optimistic throughout the roller coaster ride this ordinance has experienced both at the city council level and now in the court system.

Whether a success or failure,this Lexington effort may pave the way for a second attempt to pass a statewide ban on nude dancing.Last session, State Rep. Larry Brandstetter from Lexington offered House Bill 595 —The Public Decency Act — which proposed a statewide ban on nude dancing in the 1998 session of the General Assembly.

House Bill 595, which also banned sex acts in public, passed the House with an 89-0 majority but died in the Senate when one key senator sidetracked it because he felt it went too far.Rep. Brandstetter was later defeated in his Nov. 3 re-election bid but concerned citizens are hoping that someone else will pick up the decency banner.
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst