Politicians, others stripped of their place to work out

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 | 9:51 a.m.

Members of the high-end Sporting House will be evicted from their athletic club in 30 days as owners move out weight machines to make space for stages and dance poles.

Owners of the Industrial Road fitness center, whose membership includes a list of influential politicians, sold the popular club to an out-of-state company just three months after a favorable court ruling.

Club members, including Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, said they have been told the fitness center will close in a month.

Corey Jenkins, who co-owns the Sporting House and had discussed plans to convert it into a strip club, sued Clark County last year after commissioners approved an ordinance that increased distance requirements between adult businesses from 500 to 1,000 feet.

The Sporting House lawsuit claimed the new law violated the right to free speech and equal protection. The new law "discriminates between hotel and nonhotel owners by failing to regulate hotels with adult uses," according to the lawsuit.

On Sept. 24, 2000, Jenkins filed an application with the Clark County Planning Department to convert the center into a topless club. The ordinance was passed two days earlier but did not go into effect until Oct. 6.

When the Sporting House's new application was denied, owners filed suit.

Herrera said he knows little about the sale other than he is searching for a new place to work out. The settlement of the lawsuit gave commissioners no flexibility related to the new owners and new business.

"The current owner or the proposed owner is entitled to develop that as an adult use," Herrera said. "It's not a discretionary matter with the County Commission."

The ordinance, which is in effect, was authored by former County Commissioner Lance Malone. Malone said he was disgusted by the number of strip clubs along Industrial and was concerned about their effect on tourism along the Las Vegas Strip. Malone has since worked as a consultant for topless club owners.

About 1,062 feet separate the front door of the Sporting House and the front door of the sexually oriented business Hide and Seek on South Highland Drive. The new ordinance, however, measures distances from property line to property line.