Athletic club gets OK for cabaret

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001 | 11:16 a.m.

The Sporting House athletic club has been given permission to trade in its weight machines for strip poles.

After a successful yearlong legal battle with Clark County, the question is whether owners of the Sporting House will take advantage of their court-awarded permit to convert the elite athletic club into a topless cabaret.

Owner Corey Jenkins said the answer is no.

"We're an athletic club, and we'll continue to be and that's kind of where we're at," Jenkins said of the Industrial Drive fitness center, where some of the valley's most high-profile politicians -- including Commission chairman Dario Herrera -- work out.

Sporting Health Inc., which operates the Sporting House, sued the county in May 2000, months after commissioners approved an ordinance increasing the required distance between adult businesses from 500 feet to 1,000 feet.

The athletic club is less than 1,000 feet from the Crazy Horse II, which prompted county officials to dismiss the application.

Sporting House representatives argued that their application was submitted to the county planning division Sept. 24, 1999, and though commissioners approved the new ordinance two days earlier, it wasn't in effect until Oct. 6, 1999.

District Court Judge Valorie Vega backed the Sporting House's stance that its application should be grandfathered in; the county appealed and had to negotiate during a settlement conference mandated by the Supreme Court.

Jenkins insists he has no intentions of getting involved in the adult-oriented business. But Sporting House owners' decision to submit blueprints for one of the largest cabarets in Clark County and pay attorneys to fight the county has led others to think differently.

"I'm assuming they're heading in that direction," said Deputy District Attorney Rob Warhola, who represented Clark County. "We delayed them, but I'm sure they pursued the lawsuit and settlement to go forward."

County officials said because the floor plans have already been submitted to the county, the Sporting House only needs building permits to convert their business.

"They're pretty much ready to go," said Assistant Planning Director Barbara Ginoulias.

The Sporting House property was already zoned for industrial, which allows adult uses. The only conditions placed on the business, through the settlement conference, were related to signage, landscaping and entrances and exits.

Jenkins said he took the county to court to protect his property rights.

"It was a legal zoning matter," Jenkins said. "In many ways it had little to do with operations and a lot to do with legalities and the value of the property."

Sporting House attorney John O'Reilly could not be reached for comment Tuesday.