Apr 27, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on April 19 voted 4 to 2 to deny a license application for nude dancing for a former gay nightclub displaced by the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, saying the club’s proposed new location in a warehouse district in Northeast Washington is off limits under the city’s liquor law.

Although the club, Edge-Wet, recently announced plans to change from a gay to a straight venue, the ABC Board ruling applies to at least two more gay nightclubs displaced by the stadium that offered nude dancing. One of the two, Ziegfeld’s-Secrets, wants to move to the same area where Edge-Wet hopes to reopen.

Eight gay entertainment businesses were forced to close last year due to stadium-related development. None has reopened.

In a statement released on the day of its decision, the six-member liquor board said it was “sympathetic to the transfer of the nightclub licenses held by the owners and businesses [that] have been displaced by or located near the construction of the baseball stadium.”

But the board said it was forced to uphold the city’s liquor law, which it claims prohibits nude dance licenses from being transferred to a location other than within a zone identical to the one in which the business had been operating before. Edge-Wet’s proposed new location is in the same zone as its previous location but is in a different “subzone,” which the board said violates existing law.

“As a regulatory body, we cannot and should not be making policy decisions,” it said. “That is best left to the elected officials of the District of Columbia and we request the [City] Council take this matter up expeditiously.”

No action on Graham bill

Gay activists were quick to note that the board’s action tosses the matter into the court of gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who chairs the Council committee with jurisdiction over liquor law issues.

In February, Graham introduced a bill that attorneys representing entertainment businesses said would clear the way for the nude dance clubs displaced by the stadium to move to new locations similar to the ones where they had been operating before.

But Graham, chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Works & the Environment, has not acted on or spoken publicly about his bill since introducing it.

Last year, he introduced an identical bill but withdrew it two months later, saying aides to then Mayor Anthony Williams advised him that a zoning law change was needed to allow the displaced clubs offering nude dancing to relocate.

Graham did not return calls inquiring about whether he plans to ask the Council to vote on his bill or whether he believes his bill would correct the issues raised by the ABC Board’s ruling on April 19.

“With some tinkering and a few technical changes, yes it would,” said attorney Andrew Kline, who serves as general counsel for the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.

Kline, who specializes in liquor law cases and who has represented clubs offering nude dancing, said a zoning law change would not be needed to enable the displaced clubs to relocate if City Council approves Graham’s bill. According to Kline, a zoning change would be needed for businesses designated as “sexually oriented,” a category he said does not apply to nightclubs featuring only nude dancing.

“The law clearly states that you need nudity and sexual activity, either real or simulated, to meet the classification of a sexually oriented business,” Kline said. “The clubs we’re talking about here don’t fit that definition.”

Gay activists have joined customers and former employees of the gay businesses displaced by the stadium in expressing concern that the mayor and City Council have failed to fulfill their promise to help the clubs relocate.

Gay nightlife advocate and businessman Mark Lee said the displaced businesses have already been seriously damaged by the delays associated with finding a new location.

“Every day these businesses are closed decreases the likelihood that they will ever be able to reopen,” Lee said. “This shows the political will is not there. Clearly, this is a hot potato. Otherwise, legislation like Councilmember Graham’s bill would have passed by now.”

‘Restrictive’ view of law

After more than a year of searching for a suitable location, Edge-Wet found a building in a warehouse district on West Virginia Avenue, N.E., in a section known as Ivy City. Earlier this year, the ABC Board dismissed formal protests against the club by civic groups and the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, leading owner Ron Hunt to believe he could reopen as an upscale “gentleman’s club” featuring nude female dancers.

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