Plan approved for topless club

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

Las Vegas planners have approved a controversial topless club that -- unless a lawsuit filed against the new owners delays the project -- could be under construction by spring.

The Las Vegas Planning Commission on Thursday approved site plans for The Boardroom, a 24,093 square-foot topless club on Westwood Drive south of Sahara Avenue that would be housed in an office building onced owned by powerful political consultant Sig Rogich.

The City Council will make a final decision on the plans Jan. 16.

The two-story building will feature Venetian-style architecture, with columns and statues adorning the facades, according to plans. The first floor will house the main club area, dining and kitchen areas. The second floor has private dance booths on a balcony overlooking the club area, including a VIP area.

Attorney Mark Fiorentino, who is representing owners Ali and Hassan Davari of Houston, said construction could start by spring.

The Davaris, however, were sued last week by Annette Marie Patterson, who alleges she was cheated out of $20,000 the brothers had promised her after she relocated the Universal Church for Life Enhancement to make way for the strip club.

Fiorentino said Wednesday that he had not heard about the lawsuit, and doubted the brothers had been notified. "I would be surprised if they had an agreement and didn't live up to it," Fiorentino said.

But Patterson blocked the project last year when the church opened two days before the City Council was scheduled to consider granting a liquor license to Rogich, who planned to transfer the license to the Davaris.

The council approved Rogich's license, but made no mention of the church. The Davaris applied for a permit in July 2000, but it was denied because the church was too close to the office building. After speculation grew that Patterson opened the church to block the club, which would rival the Crazy Horse Too, owned by her brother, Rick Rizzolo, she relocated her church.

With the church gone, the Davari brothers reapplied for a permit to open The Boardroom, and it was granted by the council in February 2001.