Nov 02, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

One year and seven months after they were forced to close to make way for Washington’s new baseball stadium, two adult gay nightclubs eligible for one-time relocation privileges under a bill approved by City Council have yet to disclose where they plan to reopen.

Meanwhile, three other clubs displaced by the stadium that plan to cater to a straight clientele have applied for license transfers under the legislation, introduced earlier this year by gay Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). Graham’s bill, “One-Time Relocation of Licensees Displaced by the Ballpark Amendment Act,” became law on Oct. 18 after Congress completed its required 30 legislative day review of the measure and chose not to block it.

By identifying new buildings and submitting their application for license transfers, the three straight clubs — Nexus Gold Club, Edge-Wet and Club 55 — won first dibs on reopening in a highly sought-after warehouse district in Ward 5. The warehouse district is considered desirable by club owners because it is removed from residential neighborhoods and most likely would not subject the clubs to a series of other restrictions and regulations from which the Graham bill doesn’t protect them.

In a development that is likely to anger Ward 5 civic activists, the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is considering allowing the three straight clubs into the ward despite a provision in the Graham bill that restricts the number of adult clubs displaced by the stadium to two per ward. The three clubs plan to feature nude female dancers.

The two-club-per-ward restriction was added to the bill at the request of Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas, who joined hundreds of his constituents in raising strong objections to allowing any adult businesses to move into his ward.

ABC Board officials are considering allowing the three clubs to reopen in the ward because the board approved the license transfer for Nexus Gold Club, to 2127 Queens Chapel Road, N.E., earlier this year under liquor law regulations that existed before the Graham bill became law.

The board was expected to approve the Edge-Wet transfer to 2046 West Virginia Ave., N.E., this week under the provisions of the Graham bill.

Club 55, which was the latest of the adult businesses to apply for a transfer — to 3000 V Street, N.E. — is arguing that it is eligible to move into Ward 5 because it would become the second establishment to do so under the Graham bill. An attorney for Club 55 is expected to ask the liquor board to rule that Nexus Gold Club’s transfer should not be counted as part of the two clubs per ward restriction because of its approval prior to the Graham law taking effect.

If the city approves the license transfer of Edge-Wet and Club 55, the gay nightclubs displaced by the stadium — Ziegfeld’s-Secrets and Heat — would not be eligible for the Ward 5 warehouse district.

Thus Ziegfeld’s-Secrets and Heat must find new locations in one of the city’s remaining seven wards, where civic activists and members of Advisory Neighbor-hood Commissions have long opposed adult businesses. The mere suggestion this summer that unused space underneath Dupont Circle be considered as a spot for a gay nightclub or two was immediately denounced by neighborhood group members, some gay, despite what supporters said could be advantages to the spot: the clubs would be underground and out of sight and wouldn’t create noise.

The ABC Board and zoning commission would have the final say on whether the license transfer applications are approved, but the recommendations of civic groups and ANCs must be given “great weight” under the city’s liquor and zoning laws.

Skip Coburn, executive director of the D.C. Nightlife Associations, which represents nightclubs, bars and other businesses that serve alcoholic beverages, said the Council added so many restrictions to the Graham bill that it would be nearly impossible for the displaced gay clubs to find a new location in other wards.

“They made absolutely no sense because they dreamed this up with no reference to the zoning map,” Coburn said. “They passed a law that essentially says we’re going to let you move to absolutely nowhere where you’re qualified to move under the requirements of both the zoning laws and the ABC laws.”

Fred Moosally, general counsel for the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, which has jurisdiction over the ABC Board, said the fact that the straight clubs have identified what ...