Moratorium sought on adult clubs

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 10:38 a.m.

A rumor reported on television news Monday prompted county commissioners to request that a moratorium be placed on all applications for adult entertainment businesses until a new ordinance can be written.

KLAS Channel 8 reporters said the Sporting House -- a high-end workout club frequented by politicians and business leaders -- might be sold to developers interested in converting the 100,000-square-foot building into a strip club.

The county is crafting a new ordinance that would increase the distance requirement between adult entertainment businesses from 500 feet to 1,000 feet. Under the proposed law, the Sporting House would be too close to the Crazy Horse II on Industrial Drive.

While the ordinance was already being written, the rumor about the Sporting House, which was denied by its owners, prompted commissioners to suggest a moratorium.

Commissioner Lance Malone acknowledged that the clubs are legal in Clark County, but he suggested amending the distance ordinance earlier this month to prevent a proliferation of strip clubs in neighborhoods.

"I was driving around one day and saw them cluttered throughout the county," Malone said. "I thought, my gosh, they are all over the place."

Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates went further to strengthen the proposed ordinance. She requested that distances be written into the business license codes, saying that variances can be granted on zoning but not on license applications.

"We want to improve our image and create an environment that is healthy for all people," Gates said.

Malone said he was irked by the television report by former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, now a correspondent for Channel 8, that said the county changed its distance requirements in 1998 to make it easier to open strip clubs.

The laws have not been changed since the current 500-foot distance requirement was adopted in the early 1980s, according to Lesa Coder, the county's assistant planning director.

"Next time, Jan Jones should think about doing her homework," Malone said.