By Jeremy Twitchell (contact)

Fri, Nov 21, 2008 (12:01 p.m.)

Eight months after banning teenage nightclubs and dance halls in Henderson, the City Council is set to consider reversing its position.

A new ordinance that would allow the clubs but limit their locations and hours of operation received a favorable recommendation from the Planning Commission Thursday night with a 6-0 vote.

It is scheduled to be heard Dec. 16 by the City Council. In April, council members expressed sharp criticism for the concept of teen clubs and strong support for the ban.

Assistant City Attorney Ron Sailon, who drafted the new ordinance, said the blanket ban on both types of establishment raised questions.

"Most cities do regulate rather than ban facilities such as teenage nightclubs and teenage dance halls," he said. "In looking at the legalities involving banning these acts, it appeared that there needed to be a difference made between the two."

Though the difference between nightclubs and dance halls appears minor on the surface, it becomes significant from a legal perspective. Dance halls are businesses primarily for dancing to recorded music, while nightclubs are primarily for live entertainment, where incidental dancing may or may not take place.

Sailon said the courts have held that social dancing is not a protected form of speech, which would justify the city banning the teen dance halls. However, music is a protected form of speech, so banning teen nightclubs could be problematic.

"Once you take into account the fact that there may be problems with banning nightclubs, you get into parsing what happens in nightclubs," he said. "In a nightclub, for example, you may have dancing and music. It becomes difficult from a law enforcement perspective to separate the two and enforce one, but not the other."

The new ordinance would require the clubs to close by 10 p.m. on school nights and midnight on any other night. It would also require them to be at least 2,000 feet from any other teen club and 1,000 feet from any residence, school, park, library, liquor store, tavern or smoke shop.

The city would be able to grant waivers to the distance requirements in situations where a significant other barrier, such as a major street or a wash, exists.

Sailon said the city is also working on business licensing regulations that will require the proprietor of a teen club to undergo a background check.

Planning Commission Chairman Dan Shaw, in the public hearing for the new ordinance, said the distance requirements would severely limit the number of teen clubs.

"I think there's only two places in the city they could even have them because of the distance requirements," Shaw said.

No members of the public spoke on the issue.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at jeremy.twitchell@hbcpub.com or 990-8928.