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David Cooper says he spent $100,000 to improve a club that the county has denied him license to run.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | 2 a.m.
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Sun Archives
- Swinging Vegas entrepreneur to get his day in court (9-3-2008)
- This swinger feels persecuted (8-21-2008)
- County shops for sin sites (3-22-2008)
Face to Face: Shackled by County (7-30-08)
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Face to Face: Double Standard? (7-10-08)
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For years, Clark County has turned a blind eye to sex clubs operating in Commercial Center. Now, the owner of a new club says he's being singled out and denied a business license. Is the county cracking down, and should sex clubs, which flourish in the valley, be legal? (7-10-08)
Commercial Center
When swinger David Cooper moved from Roman Catholic-dominated El Paso, Texas, to Las Vegas, he figured he was going to the most open place in the U.S. for sexually oriented businesses.
Las Vegas, after all, advertises itself as the mecca for naughty adults.
But after a few years, his new hometown turned out to be, in his opinion, a den of hypocrisy.
Now he’s suing Clark County, current and former commissioners and top county officials in federal court over the county’s refusal to approve a business license for the group sex club he wanted to open in Commercial Center, 953 E. Sahara Ave. He argues that the denial made no sense given that he would have been practically next door to another swingers club.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by Cooper’s attorney, Lisa Rasmussen, alleges that the county violated his constitutional rights under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because similar clubs have been allowed to operate at Commercial Center.
“I find it unconscionable that the county can keep a straight face by telling me sex clubs are illegal when you have neighbors to my right and left in the same business,” Cooper says.
The suit also alleges that the county code is unconstitutionally vague and broad when it comes to the definition of prohibited sexual activity that it uses to deny business licenses. That has been a long-standing complaint, but it has been kept away from any definitive ruling by a judge.
Allen Lichtenstein, counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and a former attorney for Cooper, said he, too, thinks the code is too vague and too broad. “There is room for greater specificity,” he said.
The county was named as a defendant in a separate federal lawsuit, filed in April by Las Vegas adult club figure Michael Powers, which challenges the constitutionality of the ordinance that regulates sex clubs and defines them as “public nuisances.” Powers says he owns the Power Exchange at 3610 S. Highland Drive and has been cited by the county for operating a sex club in violation of code.
County spokesman Dan Kulin said the county had no comment on either lawsuit because the litigation is pending.
In Cooper’s case, he had hoped to operate the club Sextasy in a suite that was previously occupied by Green Door I as a swingers club. Cooper said he spent $100,000 on improvements, including an interior redesign and installation of fixtures. He applied for business licenses that he said are similar to those that have been granted to other swingers clubs. That is, they were licenses other than those that say “sex clubs,” because the county does not have licenses for such activity and maintains that they are illegal.
So, Cooper, 41, sought licenses for a restaurant, gift/novelty shop, book and video sales and the right to charge admission.
But the county denied licenses in June 2008. He appealed, and nearly three months later, county commissioners upheld the denial.
Rasmussen had argued before the commission that her client’s rights were violated under the 14th Amendment because similar clubs were allowed to operate at Commercial Center. But Deputy District Attorney Rob Warhola responded that the county did not have to go after those clubs all at once.
County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said at the time that other reputed swingers clubs have been able to keep their business licenses because the county has yet to catch them “in the act.”
Rasmussen pressed ahead with the lawsuit, arguing that Cooper’s due process was violated in part because the county took more than the required 45 days after he applied for his licenses to reject them. Had the county rejected the licenses within the 45-day period, Cooper’s business would not have spent a “substantial amount of money” on improvements, the lawsuit states. Consequently, the lawsuit seeks more than $75,000 in damages.
It also accuses the county of discriminatory enforcement of its codes.
“The defendants, and each of them, have never taken any action to revoke or rescind the licenses of any of the other swingers clubs in Clark County, despite being on notice of their existence,” the lawsuit states.
Current or former sex clubs named in the lawsuit include the Green Door II, Fantasy Social Club and Entourage Gym.
This place will not be needed, all the perverts in America will be going back to congress any day now.
How many sex clubs do you need in the same complex????
He probably should have called it something else then run it like a sex club. Numb Skull.
Damn prevert
why open a sex club when you can go to any night club on the strip - at major hotels and "get the same thing"?
Two things:
First, Las Vegas is called "Sin City" because it allows unbridled access to alcohol 24x7 to help loosen up wallets in casinos, where Vegas' REAL motto kicks in: "We Cheat Tourists and Drunks".
Second, Las Vegas is one of the most uptight counties I've seen as far as sex goes. I've lived in cities where Sarah Palin would be considered liberal that had less regulations than we do. Vegas is the only city where Vice cops trump Homicide cops in importance to the commissioners.
One more point: anyone who has ever been to one of these sex clubs will immediately discover the sad truth about these places, no matter what the clubs 'color' or 'power' is:
They attract strange men, scare off attractive couples, draw zero single women and everyone of these clubs need a Jenny Craig franchise inside.
you ever been to one of these clubs?
yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
Good point, vegasm.. But, by the looks of this guy, he is the typical sex club attendee....
He probably should have done his homework before moving his proposed business to Vegas.
Comment removed by moderator. Personal attack.
Comment removed by moderator. Personal attack.
Not another sex club! Please.
My question is how these other business 'to the left and right' are still open when it seems everyone's in the know about what they're doing. It does seem a double standard, not that I'm in favor of these places. Either clean out the smut or allow someone else to also get in on the action. If it's illegal, shut the other places down, too.
there is nothing wrong with swinging, let adults be adults and choose what they like, after all no-one protests when yet another church opens
live and let live people and stop insulting people who are putting money into a dead economy.. after all vegas is sin city let have some sin
Obviously this guy did not make the appropriate secret cash payments to the county commissioners.
The other clubs did, and they are not having any licensing problems. This is crystal clear. It's typical Vegas dirty politics.
You have got to pay to play!
Or you could just run it out your house like my wife and I do... simple and we get to choose who gets in and who doesn't.
"But Deputy District Attorney Rob Warhola responded that the county did not have to go after those clubs all at once."
"County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said at the time that other reputed swingers clubs have been able to keep their business licenses because the county has yet to catch them "in the act.""
What STUPID statements. So we know they are there and what they are doing but we don't have to go after them until we feel like it. Then the second STUPID statement that the County can't catch them "in the act." Go there any day of the week and you will have the opportunity.
We either enforce the law for all of them or none of them but the selective enforcement smacks of under the table deals. Oh, wait, this is the Clark County Commissioners. Sorry, I forgot, this is the way of doing business for them. The only ones more crooked than the sex club operators.
Why hide the truth? Sex clubs and prostitution should be legal in Las Vegas.
Noindex wrote:
"You have got to pay to play!"
You hit the nail on the head, Noindex!
Goverment runs its self like a mob protection racket, where the politicians take political contributions in exchange for protecting a business mans turf. And sex clubs are not the only businesses on the list. Think, Taxi, Limos, Bars, Contractors and the list goes on.
It's all pay to play right down the line.
What we need is to level the playing field by having a few good law suits against the politicians with regards to taking on laws that amount to "restraint of trade".
With the exception of Health and Safety . . . goverment has no business in restricting anyone from entering a market to do business.
And, I do also include the Contractor Board in that statement.
"Sex club owner feels violated"
I heard that he likes to be violated, though.
Sex and Las Vegas are synonymous. It is advertised as "Sin City" with the slogan, "What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas." Our city appeals to, and survives on, the dark side of human nature. Commercial Center has long been known for its adult oriented businesses.
Hookers brazenly roam our streets, strip clubs are allowed to hand out offensive flyers on the Strip. Name your pleasure, and a cab driver knows where to go--and get a kick-back.
Perhaps the time is ripe to legalize prostituion and sex clubs. They could be regulated and heavily taxed. The blighted Commercial Center might be the perfect location for a legal red-light district.
He looks like a perv! Bummer he found out that it's still WHO YOU KNOW to get licenses for businesses, the better jobs and so much more. Welcome to Vegas! You're not in Texas anymore!
It's not WHO YOU KNOW or WHAT YOU KNOW..it's WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT WHO YOU KNOW.
I put it like this,plain and simple, it's Las Vegas. If they would just legalize prostitution, they would not only be able to keep better tabs on it, but it would bring in revenue our city needs. Just regulate it a redlight district of some sort, make the prostitutes get permits and follow strict guidelines, and collect the taxes. For crying out loud, a HUGE adult convention comes to this city every year and holds an adult video awards show. The Green Door has been in existance for many years now. So why deny the guy? Sex is sex, and as humans, we will continue to indulge in it when ever and wherever we can. I think the county is wrong on this one, and they need to remember that we are in Las Vegas. Sin City. We sell sex in order for people just to come to our town.
He forgot to pay baby Reid.
I agree with Vegusguy 100%!! Sex clubs are consenting adults. They pay an entry fee and bring their own liquor. Why the fuss? Legalize it, tax it and move on! There couldn't be a more suitable place for a Red-Light District than in the heart of Las Vegas "Sin City"
Uh-Oh...someone forget go bribe/blackmail the union bosses and council people...tsk..tsk...David Cooper
Uh oh, David Cooper again. Hasn't he left town, yet?
Cooper is right about a few things with perhaps the most accurate being the fact that Las Vegas is "a den of hypocrisy". It's what happens when religion and money (mostly together) try and manage the sin industry.
Cooper is also right that if the Green Door is allowed to exist then other sex clubs ought to be allowed to, too. Unfortunately for Cooper, he doesn't play "the game" like everyone else and when you piss people off wherever you go, you can't expect to get the same results as someone who works the system, no matter how messed up the system is.
The ironic thing about Cooper's efforts is that no matter how hard he tries--even if his suit is successful--he won't ever have a popular swing/sex club in town because he is the single most despised swinger in Vegas.
We understand your pain, dude, but when you don't succeed and then try and take down all the other swing/sex clubs and house parties in town you can't expect much sympathy from us.
A previous LV Sun article (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug...) had this little tidbit: "To try to help ensure (legal swing sex) is done properly, Cooper even provided information to the district attorney's office regarding illegal activities of home-based swinger's clubs, Cooper said. "I told them what to look for, the principals involved, how the businesses operated," he said."
All of us thank you for that. We endured the subsequent raids and the supposed zoning/health/whatever code violations and you know what? We're still playin' our fun little harmless consenting-adults game while you're still losing at yours.
The Power Exchange, on the other hand, is a popular place for all kinds of fun 'n' freaky activities because the owner has an appropriate live-and-let-live attitude. The community is pulling for you, Mr. Powers, as a successful ending to your suit will help the entire swing community in the long run.
Comment removed by moderator. Personal attack.
LOL
This guy is going to make zoning laws tighter instead of looser like he wants. Its going to have the opposite impact.
The ACLU will argue that the language in the ordinance is vague and they are probably right. Its worked for years, but when somebody sues you got to fix it right? So Clark County will tighten, not loosen the ordinance.
That ought to make Cooper a very popular man.
The issue here is NOT that its a sex club, its that the county passes arbitrary laws and then selectively enforces them against people it doesnt like.
Did you know that if you want to start ANY business in clark county you have to get their approval, and its NOT in advance- Its AFTER they require you to make substantial improvements and investments !!!!
No person in their right mind would want to open any business here in clark county if they realized in advance that they could be shut down pretty much at any time for any one of a thousand typically unenforced laws.
Complaining neighbors can result in your being shut down. The commission panders to all sorts of complaints in order to appear 'responsive'.
But what about the rights of the business owner who puts out thousands of dollars to start a business ?
As to the sex club issue- What is so bad about someone running a sex club? I have never heard of anyone being forced to go to one. This is 2010 and its time we drop these crazy taboos against sex. With all the problems in the world, is it really sensible to worry about what people do behind closed doors?
Meanwhile the county commission wastes time on passing laws concerning feral cats and neutering male dogs (when's the last time you heard of a male dog having puppies?). They get the laws on the books and then selectively enforce them whenever they want to. Thats just not fair and should be stopped.
What a shame, I was looking forward to going to the restaurant and getting the crabs, er having the crabs.
I know, let's open a doggy-birth control center for the real swingers, dogs. and cats, too, the pussy cat! animals!!!
That guy was right, and so was the lady, you can find love in all the wrong places around here, why pay?
Why would you go there, the thrill of the hunt has lowered dramatically. The Dance.
Even a free pass..... well ok, you have forced my hand, who wants to come with me, this definitely seems worthy of a little bit of research, who wants to volunteer? I will meet you at the fountain, by the slot machines, Let me ask my wife, she says ok!! let me put on my coyboy boots, I am saddlin up.
Did you know that if you want to start ANY business in clark county you have to get their approval, and its NOT in advance- Its AFTER they require you to make substantial improvements and investments !!!!
No person in their right mind would want to open any business here in clark county if they realized in advance that they could be shut down pretty much at any time for any one of a thousand typically unenforced laws.
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If that is true (I simply don't know), then no wonder we cannot diversify our industry. It's not exactly an enticement. I wonder how many other types of businesses (and, thus, jobs) have opted not to come here precisely because of this?
It might take time-but David Cooper will eventually win this case.
It is true that the county issues a temporary license in the beginning which does not get full approval until the fire dept. and the code enforcement inspectors sign off on the business location.
The fire inspectors check for fire sprinklers, extinguishers, etc. The code enforcement is the real problem. They seem to be overzealous with zoning restrictions on everything from parking space widths to an extra exterior light fixture.
When leasing a space most of these issues are all existing, however as the tenant you can still have your business license held up because of any small infraction that has nothing to do with you or your business.
The inspectors have gotten much more strict because they fear they will get layed off if they don't keep their inspection schedules full. It makes for a very unfriendly business enviroment.
In usual fashion The Sun focused on one part of the story and didn't take it one step further. This has corruption written all over it and the commissioner that was quoted should be investigated. Many may recall that George Knapp did an in depth expose on these places some years ago. There was no doubt what kind of business the now infamous Green Door is. They have a roving advertising bus and billboards. How much clearer can it be?
In less than 10 seconds I was able to find the business licenses for the Green Door, which is right next door to where this guy was going to open his club. They have five licenses (and this is too funny to be believed): restaurant, tobacco permit, gift/novelty shop, admission fees non-resort, and amusement machines. That said, Mr. Kanigher needs to go back to Giunchigliani and ask her point blank what sort of business she believes this is. How hard could it possibly be to "catch them in the act"? Don't we have a police force in this city?? Since when can't someone pop in to have a look at a business that is suspected of illegal activity?
It should be clear from this article that corruption and/or total incomptetence in the county commission is far from over. Come November we the voters need to make sure that we fire every single one of these fools.
Here's the link to the county site:
http://sandgate.co.clark.nv.us/businessL...
It is sad that anyone needs this type of business and unfortunate that Vegas continues with the sin city motto. Everyone I know goes to play slots or table games, wine, dine and see shows. We call it the adult Disneyland. I think Vegas should consider improving their image and call it Fun City instead of Sin City.
Sounds like he didn't suck up and grease the right people.
According to the picture it looks like he just got corn holed!
I can't believe they jerked him around like this and he ended up taking it on the chin.
I bet the guy they hired to mop up isn't even that unhappy about losing his job.
You're all missing the story line here, "Sex Club Owner feels violated" that is hilarious. Maybe he ought to stay out of that type of club.
Too damn funny
i am from grand rapids michigan. there was a man there that wanted to open a sex oriented business. it was very close to schools.. children would have had to walk past this business. and this sounds like the same person that wanted to open a club in grand rapids.. no body wanted that club there.. grand rapids is a religous type city as well... this guy in grand rapids sued the city and i think he won..but i think that club was boycotted..its so strange that it sounds like the same guy.. if it is the same guy.. he has pig poop for brains.
Looks like he is violating himself in that picture playing pocket pool.
No thanks Nitro, I don't live in Vegas but I love to vacation in Vegas. Some people look at me and go, you? Vegas?
I don't go for the sleeze and neither do my friends.
Obviously he's not very bright or he wouldn't have dumped a hundred K on the place before he had approval. Too bad though, pervs need a place to play, too. YUK!
This is what happens when we elect religious fanatic nut cases to office! That is why America is rapidly becoming the least "Free" country in the world, third to Iran and Afghanistan.
I have to laugh at many of the comments. I have never been to one of these clubs or would go. It is much to easy to get a nice suite on the Strip and a couple models to share an evening with. But all these comments by people that are so frustrated with thier own life that they want to shove what they feel so called "normal sex life" might be on others. Most could not get laid with a stick and many are some of the biggest perverts behind closed doors in the county. Live and let live, and keep your brand of morality to your self.
we should have more sex club. we probably get more tourist. this is why we are call sin city
The rules have to be applied the same to everyone! Chris Giunchigliani is a moron with her statement. All you have to do is drive through the place to know what goes on there. Bottom line, whether we agree with them or not, if consenting adults want to do their thing, leave them alone! If you don't agree with their shinaningans, DON'T GO THERE! This is Sin City, so either accept it or move to some town in the bible belt, where everyone is the same...boring and dull. The same types that bible thump and then are caught cheating on their spouses or worse!
I hope Cooper and Powers win their lawsuit! Everyone is a hypocrite! Do as I say, not as I do...Jerks!!
What is with this anti-sex club talk? This is sin-city. Getting angry at sex clubs in Vegas is like a vegetarian walking into a butcher shop and acting offended.
I love it, "Sex club owner feels 'violated.'"
I know it takes all kinds of things to make all kinds of people happy, but I'm just sayin, Vegas would be better off distancing from the xxx sleeze. A little sexy goes a long way and Vegas would be better off being classy sexy than sleezy sexy, if they want to keep the money crowd.