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Raided nude club on Gandy files lawsuit

The county's rules are unconstitutional, Vegas Showgirls contends.

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 17, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG- The club serves alcohol. The dancers go onstage nude. And the manager doesn't have a license to operate an adult business.

Just this year, those violations and complaints from residents have prompted three raids by Pinellas County sheriff's deputies on the Vegas Showgirls adult club, at 10570 Gandy Blvd.

Now the club is fighting back.

In a federal lawsuit filed late last month, an attorney representing the club says the county's ordinances and requirements for adult businesses are unconstitutional because they restrict First and Fifth Amendment rights.

"The plaintiff believes that the presentation of expressive dance performances to the public is a beneficial social activity which allows adults to enjoy the socially enriching, expressive and pleasurable aspects of human sexuality," the lawsuit says.

The county's adult business ordinances have been challenged at least 10 times in various courts and always have been upheld, said Carl Brody, an assistant county attorney.

"We'll defend it," he said.

Jason Byers, the club's promotions director, said, "It never hurts to try again."

The Sheriff's Office has received 90 calls for service to the club since 2005. In the past year, deputies have arrested dancers and the club's manager. They even arrested a patron who refused to leave during a raid.

During their last raid, on Sept. 19, deputies arrested five dancers for being nude in an establishment that provides alcohol. Club manager Jonathan Bell, 36, was cited with operating an adult business without a license.

Byers said the Sheriff's Office didn't start raiding the club until this year.

"The bottom line is that I just think it's an unfair business practice," Byers said. "For three years, we've been open. Now all of a sudden you've got to bust my b----?"

In its lawsuit, the Vegas Showgirls says the county's requirements for adult businesses are excessive.

For example, the club says a county ordinance prohibiting adult businesses from being within 400 feet from one another prevents it from getting a license, since its landlord has an adult bookstore within 400 feet of the Vegas Showgirls club.

"It is next to impossible to find a suitable existing location where plaintiff could successfully apply for an adult use license," the lawsuit says.

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 727 893-8472.

[Last modified October 16, 2007, 22:57:54]