 |
 |
| Gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) introduced a bill that would allow displaced nude dance clubs to move to new locations but he has not acted on or spoken publicly about the measure since February. (Blade photo by Henry Linser) |
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: LOU CHIBBARO J COMMENTS
 
continued...
ruling by the board noted that the building at 2046 West Virginia Avenue, N.E., where Hunt expected to reopen, was in a CM1 zone and his original location at 56 L Street, S.E., was in a CM2 zone. Both zones permit the identical commercial and light manufacturing uses, with one allowing buildings slightly higher and wider than the other.
Rick Rosendall, vice president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, said the liquor board has taken “the most restrictive possible interpretation” of a section of the law that GLAA had worked out with key members of City Council in 2001. At that time, the existing law banned the transfer of nude dance licenses altogether, causing the licenses to expire if owners decided to retire or were forced out of their existing location due to commercial real estate development.
“If the lawyers for the affected businesses deem Jim Graham’s bill sufficient, then that is the legislative vehicle to rally around,” Rosendall said. “It would be helpful if those who enjoy patronizing those establishments would raise their voices, since there is no shortage of prudes even within the gay community.
“We in GLAA continue to maintain that the prohibition against nude dancing in ABC-licensed establishments is outrageous and ridiculous and that adults are fully capable of making their own entertainment choices without the interference of bluenoses and busybodies,” he said.
Existing law places a cap on the number of nude dance clubs in the District, allowing the ones in business since the 1980s to continue while banning any new ones from opening. The licenses for the three gay nightclubs that offered nude dancing before being displaced by the stadium are being held at the offices of the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. About a dozen nude dance clubs with female dancers catering to a straight clientele continue to operate mostly in the downtown business district.
Liquor law attorneys have said the law in theory would allow the gay clubs to move to the downtown district. However, other restrictions, such as a prohibition against opening such a club within 600 feet from a residential building, school, library or park make it nearly impossible to find an acceptable location, the attorneys have said.
The existing straight clubs with nude dancing in the downtown area have been allowed to remain where they are under a “grandfather” clause in the law. If forced to move from their current locations, it would be highly unlikely that they could find new locations, according to Kline and others familiar with liquor law issues because residential development in the downtown area has mushroomed, making it nearly impossible for a nude dance club to find a space greater than 600 fe
| 
