CITY `DELIBERATIVE' ON STRIP-TEASE REGS

The Cape Girardeau City Council hasn't changed its tune, but its tempo when it comes to regulating strip-tease bars and other adult businesses.

Two weeks ago, the council indicated it would vote tonight on a measure to strictly regulate and license such businesses.

The issue is on tonight's agenda, but only as a discussion item.

Mayor Al Spradling III said the council isn't getting cold feet about imposing such restrictions in the face of a threatened lawsuit on constitutional grounds.

"We are not backing off our intent," he said. "We are moving deliberately."

He said the city doesn't want to be subjected to any liability if it can avoid it. Certainly a lot of this area is untested.

Cape Girardeau lawyer David Rosener contends the proposed ordinance is unconstitutional and has threatened to take the city to court.

Rosener represents Regina's House of Dolls, a strip-tease bar that opened last month.

In January, more than 1,900 people signed a petition opposing the opening of the bar.

Cape Girardeau resident Donna Miller has been one of the most vocal critics.

Miller is frustrated the regulatory measure isn't scheduled for a vote tonight.

"It makes me angry," she said after learning Friday council action won't come for another two weeks. "I am just so disgusted."

That's too long as far as Miller is concerned. She and others want the city to regulate strip-tease bars to the point that such businesses will leave town.

Miller said the longer the council delays enacting regulations, the greater the risk of increased crime.

"I can come up with proof of how harmful places like this are," she said.

But Rosener said Regina's already is heavily regulated by the Missouri Division of Liquor Control.

"State Liquor Control is out at the club very frequently and they haven't had any problems with us," he said.

"You can't legislate morality and that is exactly what the City Council is trying to do," he said. "We aren't living in the Dark Ages anymore."

City Attorney Warren Wells said the measure is still a rough draft, patterned after an ordinance adopted in the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone.

The measure regulates all forms of adult entertainment and imposes everything from zoning to licensing restrictions.

Wells said he and other city staff members feel the proposed ordinance is sufficiently different from the Gladstone law to warrant further discussion.

Wells said the city staff also wants to provide the council with information on studies done in other communities about the adverse effects resulting from the operation of sexually oriented businesses.

Studies have found such businesses prompt an increase in crime, including prostitution and decrease property values.

The city staff has provided council members with copies of a Minnesota attorney general's report on how to regulate adult businesses.

Among other things, the 1989 report recommends that cities document findings of adverse secondary effects of such businesses prior to enacting zoning or licensing regulations.

It says such steps will help cities withstand legal challenges to such regulations.

Wells said, "Courts have indicated that we can examine reports from other communities and then the council can make a determination as to what degree those are relevant to Cape. Obviously, the whole process involves drawing on the experiences of others."

STRIP-TEASE LIST

The Cape Girardeau City Council is considering a measure that would regulate adult businesses. It would:

Apply to all adult businesses, including strip-tease bars, adult movie theaters, bookstores, body-painting studios and bath houses.

Require all adult businesses and managers, servers and entertainers in such places to be licensed.

Impose a $40 annual fee for an adult business license, and $20 annual license fees for each manager, entertainer and server.

Require applicants to show their driver's licenses or other valid documents to demonstrate that they are at least 18 years old.

Allow the city to inspect such businesses.

Prohibit such businesses within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, public parks, day-care facilities and residential property, or other adult businesses.

Prohibit anyone younger than 18 from entering such establishments, regardless of whether they serve alcohol.

Bar total nudity in such places.

Require adult busineses to be closed from 1:30 to 6 a.m. weekdays and Saturday, and from 1:30 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday.

Restrict the tipping of strip-tease dancers and other adult entertainers. Customers could only tip them by placing such tips in a box at least 10 feet away from the stage.

Require live adult entertainment to be confined to a stage at least 2 feet above the elevation of the main floor.

Require customers to stay at least 10 feet away from the stage.

Source: City of Cape Girardeau