JACKSON TO CONSIDER ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ORDINANCE

JACKSON -- All the publicity surrounding the opening of two strip-tease nightclubs in Cape Girardeau prompted several area towns, including Scott City and Sikeston, to adopt laws regulating semi-nude dancing.

Now it's Jackson's turn, and aldermen tonight will consider a measure that would require $100 permits to work in an adult entertainment business, force such businesses into industrial zones and prohibit tipping the performers.

Mayor Paul Sander said the board wanted to keep the erotic dancing issue from becoming a "big deal" in Jackson. He instructed City Attorney David Beeson to examine regulations from other Missouri towns and put an effective Jackson ordinance together.

"We've been considering this for quite some time without any fanfare," Sander said. "It doesn't deserve a lot of publicity."

That wasn't the opinion in Cape Girardeau. When the Alibi Club began featuring female dancers and Regina's House of Dolls strip club opened, many citizens were in an uproar, some marching in front of Regina's.

The publicity prompted some constituents in Jackson Alderman David Hitt's ward to ask if their city had laws regulating strip clubs. It doesn't.

Hitt noted that Cape Girardeau often has been the testing ground for various issues, providing its neighboring cities time to react.

He said Jackson residents weren't as worried about semi-nude dancing as they were activities they thought might accompany it -- drug use and prostitution.

According to City Administrator Steve Wilson, the city didn't use any one tactic to dissuade a business like Regina's, but simply made it economically unfeasible to settle in Jackson.

"Those places are located where they can make the most money in the least amount of time," he said. "If they can't make money here, they will go where they can."

Jackson's proposed ordinance requires adult-oriented entertainment businesses to operate 1,200 feet from residentially zoned property, 1,000 feet from any similar business and 1,200 feet from a school, religious institution or park.

Background checks are required on all employees, who must be free of violations and pay a $100 permit fee to work.

The performers must stay a certain distance from customers, who aren't allowed to tip them.

"Surely this will make adult entertainment business owners strongly consider whether they want to come to Jackson," Wilson said.

The board meets at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Jackson City Hall.