Minister’s suit could stall plans for topless club

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

A minister whose actions threatened the political career of a Las Vegas City Councilman has returned to haunt the owners of a proposed topless club.

Annette Marie Patterson is suing Ali and Hassan Davari of Houston, owners of The Boardroom, a strip club planned for downtown on Westwood Drive, south of Sahara Avenue between Highland Avenue and Rancho Drive.

Patterson alleges that she was cheated out of $20,000, which had been promised to her by the brothers after she relocated the Universal Church for Life Enhancement to make way for the strip club.

In the lawsuit, filed last week on behalf of Attorney Dean Patti of Patti & Sgro, Patterson is asking a District Court judge to order the brothers to pay her the $20,000, plus interest, general damages of $10,000, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

The lawsuit is the latest development in a story that began more than a year ago, when political consultant Sig Rogich announced plans to sell his office building on Westwood Drive to the Davaris, who planned to convert it into a strip club.

Patterson blocked the project when she opened a church in the vicinity of the future club -- zoning laws prohibit strip clubs near churches. The Davaris benefited from her eventual decision to move the church, but Patterson maintains the move was made at her expense.

The Davaris' attorney, Mark Fiorentino, is scheduled to appear before the city's Planning Commission Thursday to review plans for the project. Although construction was expected to begin by spring 2002, Patterson's legal move could be another stumbling block for the project.

Patterson opened the church on April 3, 2000, two days before the council was scheduled to consider granting Rogich a liquor license for his former office building on Westwood Drive. The council granted the request, but city officials made no mention of the church.

Rogich planned to transfer the liquor license to the Davaris, who in July of that year applied for a permit to turn the former office building into a topless club.

The permit was denied because city planners determined it was too close to the church. The city's zoning code requires a 1,500-foot separation between adult businesses and churches.

Rumors emerged that the church's location and its timing was a ploy to block the club, which would have rivaled the Crazy Horse Too, a strip club on Industrial Road owned by Rick Rizzolo, Patterson's brother.

Councilman Michael McDonald, a friend of Rizzolo's, soon became immersed in a series of ethics allegations that he worked behind the scenes to scuttle the application.

The city's Ethics Review Board ruled in February that McDonald broke ethics laws by purposely trying to block the application.

With the church gone, the Davari brothers reapplied for a permit to open The Boardroom and, in February 2001, the project was approved by the council, with stipulations.

After hearing a Metro Police report on the brothers' clubs in Houston, the council decided that any prostitution arrest connected to the club would result in its closure.

According to the suit, Patterson relocated her church because she was made an offer that she couldn't refuse. Allegedly, Stephen Stein, a Las Vegas attorney representing the Davaris, entered into a "contract" where the brothers agreed to pay Patterson $25,000 to relocate so they could receive the permits necessary to open the topless club.

Stein told Patterson that she could pick up a $12,500 check from him, which represented a partial payment for the cost of relocating, the suit says. But, according to the lawsuit, the actual amount on the check given to Patterson was for $5,000.

The suit also alleges Stein and the Davaris breached the contract by failing to pay her the full $25,000 and that it cost Patterson more than $10,000 to relocate, including costs from breaking the lease, the removal of and damage to newly purchased pews, stained glass and other fixtures.

The suit also alleges Stein diverted a $7,500 payment by the Davaris, which was meant for Patterson as part of the initial payment.

The lawsuit alleges that because the brothers received their permits from the city, they no longer had incentive to pay Patterson.

The suit alleges that the brothers' conduct "amounted to fraud, for the selfish purpose of obtaining the necessary permits for the proposed topless club."

Neither Stein nor Fiorentino returned calls seeking comment.