Zoning Strip Clubs Out of Seattle

Hot issues don't really die, ever, they just retreat underground and cool for a while before popping up in new places. Increased regulation of strip clubs was put down by voters recently by a pretty strong majority, but according to this email we just received the City Council is reintroducing some of the restrictions of the placement of new clubs in the form of a zoning ordinance. Today at 5:30 at City Hall there's a meeting to discuss the ordinance, which, this email claims, will reduce the areas available to new strip clubs to those outlined on the map below.

1. There's no basis for taking this action; the existing Clubs have not proven to be a nuisance to the degree that is assumed by this legislation.

2. The voters of Seattle sent a resounding message in November that they do not consider this issue a priority.

3. In the 6 months since the defeat of Ref. 1, there have been zero applications for new strip clubs, showing that the current regulatory environment is sufficient to keep the number of clubs in Seattle to a reasonable level (we have 3 Clubs, Portland has nearly 50).

4. We believe that this legislation, if passed, will prove to be unconstitutional, and that the City will again find itself in court and spending more tax-payer money on an issue that the Citizens don't consider a priority.

Whoa, a Red Light District along Salmon Bay? That sounds kinda fun.

Belying our grade school membership in the Tortoise Group for both spelling and reading comprehension, we initially attributed the proposed 800' exclusion rule to "Mayor Nichols," when, in fact, Peter Steinbrueck is responsible.