City policy raises issues of location, competition

Scott Reeder

Thursday, Feb. 11, 1999 | 11:26 a.m.

Las Vegas zoning policies have indirectly resulted in sexually oriented businesses concentrating near the city's most impoverished neighborhood.

City officials say the current zoning policy is the best alternative to having strip joints and adult bookstores sprouting up in residential neighborhoods across the city.

But critics say it is concentrating the problem in one area -- the city's poorest.

"This isn't a moral issue. It's a matter of effective urban planning," Douglas Powell, deputy director of the city planning department, said. "These are the types of businesses that many people have objections to being built near their homes or businesses, so we allow them to be constructed only in areas zoned for industrial uses."

But Allen Lichtenstein, a local attorney who represents some sexually oriented businesses, said the aim of the city zoning code is clear: to put as many adult businesses out of business as possible.

"I don't doubt for a second that if the city had its way, we wouldn't have any businesses like this," he said. "But the U.S. Supreme Court won't allow them to do that. So cities do the bare minimum to allow these businesses."

Ironically, this tends to help existing businesses because it restricts competition, Lichtenstein said. "This is wrong because we live in a free society and this restricts freedom. That's always bad. People should be able to read and do what they want," he said.

Businesses that are not located in those industrial areas are at a disadvantage, even though they have been "grandfathered" into the zoning code, because they are restricted in expanding or making certain types of improvements.

But residents of neighborhoods bordering industrial areas, where many strip joints have opened, say it is as if the city has abandoned efforts to improve their part of town.

"It's like the city has just given up on our neighborhood and they want to stick everything that is bad here," said Andrea Smith Banks, who owns property near the Crazy Horse Too, a Las Vegas strip joint.

But city officials have been critical of how well Banks maintained her own property when she operated an apartment building in the neighborhood. They say police were frequently called there to address problems.

"There is really no evidence that these adult businesses are causing major problems in the neighborhood," said City Councilman Michael McDonald, who represents the area. "Let's face it, the area is zoned industrial. There are warehouses and all kinds of things near those apartments that people may object to."

McDonald said there has not been an attempt by the current City Council to concentrate sexually oriented businesses in the neighborhood. In fact, he said, it is a result of zoning decisions made by city leaders "many years ago."

In fact, the city of Las Vegas adopted its current zoning policy regarding sexually oriented businesses in September 1992.

The Crazy Horse Too is part of an entire strip of adult businesses congregated along the Interstate 15 corridor in an area zoned for industrial uses.

"It's just awful. It leaves a horrible impression on children in the neighborhood," Banks said. "These places are terrible. The city has created a 24-hour fiesta to serve prurient interests. These people leaving those businesses throw up and urinate on my property. I also think it is fueling an increase in drug sales."

Concentrating businesses within a certain area is the downside of the current zoning plan, Powell said. But, he added, the city has taken steps to ensure that the adult businesses don't become too close together.

The city requires that sexually oriented business properties be at least 1,000 feet apart. The City Council waived that rule Monday and allowed Crazy Horse to expand so that it is now closer to other adult businesses than the law would ordinarily allow.

There are clear reasons for the county and the city to have these rules, said Irene Navis, an assistant planning manager for Clark County.

"National research has found that when you put these businesses too close together, you have crime problems," she said. "Things like prostitution, drugs and other crimes increase."

Some believe the neighborhood is being taken advantage of because it is poor and lacks influence at City Hall.

"The people living here have very little clout. Most of them don't vote. They are laborers. They just crowd into their tiny little apartments and try to survive," Peter Christoff, a neighborhood resident, said.

Contrary to Las Vegas' "Sin City" reputation, the area has quite restrictive rules regarding sexually oriented businesses, Navis said.

"These rules are modeled after Supreme Court rulings and on what has been successful in other cities," she said.

Raymond Pistol, president of Talk of the Town and Showgirl Video, said the city zoning regulations create a financial windfall for the owners of existing sexually oriented businesses.

"It is like the city is franchising these X-rated businesses. By making it very restrictive for new businesses to open, it is limiting the competition for the businesses that are already here. People coming to Las Vegas expect these kind of businesses -- especially single men. On any given day, I have more than 1,000 people come through the doors of either of my businesses."

Pistol operates an adult book store and a nude nightclub. Both are on Las Vegas Boulevard in areas zoned for commercial uses.

"I started my businesses 10 years ago. I wouldn't be able to locate my businesses there today. What the city has done is force new businesses to locate in the worst part of town. Then they blame the problems of that neighborhood on the X-rated businesses," he said.

Current zoning laws make it extremely difficult to open additional sexually oriented businesses within the city, Pistol said.

"Sure, there are plenty of industrial areas within the city. But the key is to find one that is commercially viable," he said. "There aren't many sites left in Las Vegas that meet all of those criteria."

In fact, most sexually oriented businesses in Las Vegas are near the Meadows Village neighborhood, previously known as the Naked City.

The neighborhood is without a doubt the poorest in the city, said Tom Perrigo, a planning supervisor for the city. In a 1996 municipal study, the average household income there was found to be $14,500.

The neighborhood is bordered by Las Vegas and Charleston boulevards, Interstate 15 and Sahara Avenue, Perrigo said.

"Do those businesses bother me? Not really. It's not like those girls leave those places and solicit in this neighborhood," David Weekly said as he eyed the rows of dilapidated apartment buildings along Boston Avenue, where he lives.

The ethnically diverse neighborhood consists primarily of low-income people, many of whom work in the service industry. According to census data, 93 percent of the 4,000 people in the neighborhood live in apartments.

"This neighborhood is getting better. Three years ago, you would be afraid to walk here day or night," Weekly said. "But those (strip joints) aren't causing any problems. I drive by them day and night. I never see any activity there. In fact, I really don't see many cars. Most of the people who go to those places must be taking a cab or a limo."

But others in the neighborhood have major objections.

"The owners of those businesses think that they are doing a good job and running good businesses," Christoff said. "To a certain extent, they are. What they don't realize is what their customers do in the neighborhood. They park in neighboring businesses' parking lots and leave beer bottles and other litter. They also go into the neighborhoods and buy drugs."

But Pistol said this is not fair criticism.

"People who use drugs generally aren't sexual. Our clubs don't generally attract a large number of drug users," he said.

"Besides that, we are heavily regulated -- perhaps more so than any other type of business in the state. Where do you see prostitution in Las Vegas? You don't see it in front of our businesses. You see it on Fremont Street -- far away from any X-rated businesses."

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