Editorial: Even this twist isn’t a shocker

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 9:10 a.m.

The zoning dispute over a topless bar has displayed the seamier side of Las Vegas politics -- and it doesn't seem as if this sordid story will end anytime soon. A church that blocked the opening of a topless bar suddenly decided to move this week. This latest development happened only after it was revealed recently that the Universal Church of Life Enhancement's minister, Annette Marie Patterson, just happened to be the sister of Rick Rizzolo, who owns the Crazy Horse Too strip joint, a potential competitor of the topless bar.

The controversy all started earlier this year when Sig Rogich, an influential Republican political consultant, wanted to get his old office building rezoned so he could sell it to someone else, who wanted to build a topless bar. Initially it was a tale of whether Rogich's legendary political juice would somehow be able to overcome the city staff's finding that the land shouldn't be rezoned for a tavern because it was too close to an elementary school. But a subsequent measurement found that the building actually met the minimum distance requirement of at least 1,000 feet between schools and taverns -- by 17 inches -- so the Las Vegas City Council approved Rogich's controversial application in April.

Now, as the Sun's Erin Neff reported Wednesday, an investigation has been launched within City Hall to find out whether the location of the church -- if it is indeed a church -- and opening just two days before the council's vote in April was aided surreptitiously by either city staffers or elected officials. Whatever the city probe reveals, one thing's for certain: No one will come out smelling like a rose in this mess.