Stripper ordinance might be changed

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

Affected Clubs

Strip clubs affected by Clark County's ordinance:

A ban on the traditional method of tipping strippers -- stuffing money into G-strings -- might be dropped from a controversial Clark County lap dancing ordinance that heavily criticized commissioners revisited Tuesday.

The county's deputy district attorneys and business licensing staff were directed to rewrite sections of the law, passed three weeks ago, and return to the board Nov. 12 with revisions.

Commissioners agreed to allow G-string tipping until they decide on whether that method will be prohibited. The remainder of the ordinance that places restrictions on lap dancing will go into effect Sept. 1.

Board members said most critics' concerns are about prohibiting underage dancers from working in clubs that serve alcohol, tipping methods and whether the ordinance clearly states which body parts dancers and patrons may touch.

Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey asked that the ordinance be reconsidered, saying some portions are confusing. She repeatedly urged the county to meet again with strip club attorneys to craft a new ordinance.

The board also agreed to look into licensing dancers, but the majority of commissioners rebuffed Kincaid-Chauncey's proposal to meet again with strip club attorneys. Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who proposed the ordinance, said the county worked closely with topless club owners to craft the ordinances and that compromises had since been made at their request.

"I don't particularly want to address this over and over again," Commissioner Chip Maxfield said. "I think we have a good statute that needs to move forward."

Other board members questioned the consequences of their July 31 decision.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, perhaps the most conservative board member, said the section of the ordinance that only allows hand-to-hand tips has "no legitimate purpose to it."

Commissioners also wondered if by prohibiting underage dancers from working in strip clubs that serve alcohol, they are pushing young strippers into totally nude clubs, which are not permitted to serve alcohol.

"We have created a dilemma and a situation none of us feel comfortable about," said Commissioner Erin Kenny, who was not present when the law was approved.

But according to the district attorney's office, that portion of the county ordinance won't likely change. Allowing underage dancers to perform in strip clubs that serve alcohol violates a 1960s state law, according to an opinion written by the attorney general's office.

"The adult industry would have to go to the Legislature to see if there is an appetite for a change," said Deputy District Attorney Mary-Anne Miller.

Kincaid-Chauncey said she had second thoughts about adopting a law regulating lap dancing and other strip club activities when she learned Las Vegas city officials had abandoned their efforts to update their ordinance.

On Tuesday, she asked that language in the city's 1989 law be incorporated into the county ordinance. The county's law legalizes lap dancing, but prohibits dancers from using any part of their bodies to touch the genitals or breasts of the patron.

The city's ordinance simply says "no dancer shall fondle or caress any patron and no patron shall fondle or caress any dancer."

Proponents of the county's new ordinance argued that the city ordinance's vague language is what led to the debate over the newly adopted law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a county case against a strip club in 1996 because the law was too vague -- it offers no definition of fondling or caressing.

Metro Police Lt. Patrick Neville said even though lap dancing is illegal in Clark County, officers have had a difficult enforcing the law, knowing that arrests won't stand up in court.

"If we wanted to we probably could have," Neville said. "But we didn't know if we could defend an arrest or cite someone for something that may or may not be right."

Neville and fellow investigators support the county's laws and say they are concise enough to enforce. Officers even simulated strip club activities so they could test enforcing the new laws.