Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Plan aims for stricter nudity laws

Adult business owners say they expect to legally challenge any changes proposed by Hillsborough commissioners.

By BILL VARIAN
Published June 14, 2006

TAMPA - Hillsborough County commissioners are set to adopt stricter public nudity regulations this summer and plan to poll the public in November, seeking a show of support.

A proposed ordinance would require adult business owners, their employees and performers to get licensed to stay in the skin trade. New rules would govern everything from the size of the room where strippers perform to the brightness of lights in adult theaters.

The commission wants a nonbinding, straw-ballot question asking voters whether they support nudity regulation to "the fullest extent allowed by law" - an attempt to persuade Tampa leaders to adopt the same rules. City officials have said they don't intend to adopt them.

Such a referendum also likely would play a role in elections by rallying socially conservative voters to the polls in a year with no presidential race.

Adult business owners said they expect to quickly challenge the proposed changes in court.

Commissioners still must hold public hearings on the licensing requirements and a series of votes on the changes and ballot question, which they intend to do in July and August. But they signaled their strong conceptual support of both with 5-0 votes Tuesday.

Commission Chairman Jim Norman, recovering from heart surgery, was absent, and Kathy Castor left without explanation before the votes.

"I think this is an important step in the right direction,'' said Commissioner Ronda Storms, who has championed the tougher adult-business rules. "There are multiple hurdles to overcome and this is one.

"This is a long-term project.''

Commissioners are heeding the advice of a consulting attorney they hired, Scott Bergthold, whose Chattanooga, Tenn., law firm specializes in helping government write and defend adult-business laws. He recommended scrapping much of the county's current approach: regulating adult businesses with land use rules that are vulnerable to court challenges.

Bergthold said the county should keep basic land use regulations that prohibit adult businesses within 2,000 feet of a church or home and 2,500 feet of a school.

From there he recommends a licensing process to regulate behavior within those businesses.

Owners would have to pay $100 for the initial license and $50 each year for renewal. Employees or performers would pay $50 for an initial license and $25 for renewal, though commissioners may yet increase the costs.

The license would be suspended if an employee or owner knowingly lies on an application, performs sex acts on the premises, uses drugs or is convicted of crimes such as prostitution. It would be revoked for a second violation while on suspension. Fines could range from $250 to $500.

There is no grandfather provision; Existing businesses and employees would need to comply with rules, which also include:

- A ban on all alcohol sales in sexually oriented businesses.

- A requirement that performances by nude or semi-nude people take place in rooms no smaller than 1,000 square feet. Performers must remain at least 6 feet from patrons and on a stage at least 18 inches above the flooring.

- A prohibition against nude or semi-nude performers touching patrons or their clothing.

- A requirement that adult movie houses, which typically contain several small rooms, be built in such a way that an operator can see all areas and the people in them. It specifies lighting levels.

- A rule that no adult business may remain open between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The rules also ban mobile nudity in response to a strip club promotion on a bus last year. Rules don't address bikini bars, but Bergthold recommended a change to liquor laws that would prohibit a bikini-clad employee from touching a patron in bars where alcohol is sold.

Bergthold emphasized that under existing law, bikinis must cover the buttocks and breast. Businesses with employees wearing thongs or G-strings must comply with licensing requirements, he said.

"If they're not covering their buttocks, it's not a bikini,'' he said.

He proposes having County Administrator Pat Bean create a system to administer the license, check compliance and hear appeals.

Commissioners say the rules are meant to combat "harmful secondary effects" of such businesses, such as drug use, rape, prostitution and the health risks of unsafe sex, a legal strategy being employed by governments across the nation.

But owners says their businesses spin off no more crime than any other bar, and perhaps less.

"If I thought my place was a detriment to the area I would shut it down,'' said Jamie Rand, owner of the Showgirls bikini bars in Valrico and Plant City. "If I have to file a lawsuit to protect my rights and the rights of other people in Hillsborough County, I will do that."

He and Mons Venus owner Joe Redner, who has filed to run for election against Norman, said the ballot language is overly broad and will not withstand a challenge.

"The whole question is, 'What is the fullest extent allowed by law?' '' Redner said. "I don't think they know and I don't think I know, so the person voting on it certainly won't know.''

[Last modified June 14, 2006, 11:54:54]