Council panel OKs rules for strip clubs

Tough new restrictions on Seattle strip clubs were approved by a City Council panel yesterday, including a "four-foot rule" to separate dancers from patrons.

Despite objections from some dancers and attorneys representing local clubs, the council's Finance and Budget Committee voted to send the legislation to the full council for a vote Oct. 3.

The rules are similar to those in other cities, but attorneys for two Seattle clubs argued that the restrictions were unfair and designed to put them out of business.

"It seems to me ... that what the council is doing here is basically swatting a fly with a sledgehammer," said Gil Levy, who represents Rick's in Lake City.

Jack Burns, an attorney for Déjà Vu in downtown Seattle, said the city had produced no evidence that the clubs were linked to crimes such as prostitution or illicit drug use.

Of 190 arrests inside clubs in recent years, none involved prostitution or drug dealing, Burns noted.

Instead, the charges were virtually all related to violations of the current law governing conduct of dancers. That law prohibits sexual contact with patrons, but does not force dancers to keep a certain distance away.

A few neighbors of Rick's urged the council to bring Seattle in line with other cities, calling the move long overdue.

"I am completely disgusted by the City Council's behavior," said Kelly Meinig, a longtime critic of Rick's, who blasted the city for extending a moratorium on strip clubs for 17 years while failing to pass new zoning laws.

The moratorium was recently struck down by a federal court and the city must now decide where to allow new clubs to open. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels intends to propose zoning rules by mid-December, said Sung Yang, the mayor's council liaison.

Tiffiny Neatrour, 24, who dances at The Sands in Ballard, said she was angry that the council appeared determined to pass rules that could take away her lucrative job by virtually eliminating the "lap dances" that earn tips for dancers.

"Nobody wants to pay for a dance four feet away. It makes me mad. I don't know what I'm going to do," she said.

Neatrour, who has two children, said she typically earns $200 to $300 a day dancing. She was one of a few dancers to attend yesterday's committee vote. More than a hundred showed up at an earlier public hearing to voice their strong opposition.

Besides the four-foot rule, the proposal would prohibit customers from handing money directly to dancers, require brighter lighting and force clubs to post a "code of conduct" in public areas.

Councilman Peter Steinbrueck said he was worried that the city had not proved that strip clubs were really crime magnets. "We better be able to back that up," he said.

Steinbrueck also amended the proposal yesterday to ensure that customers at nude dance clubs be held accountable for rules violations.

Councilman Richard McIver, chairman of the finance panel, said he wasn't swayed by the dancers' arguments about their possible loss of income.

"Drug dealing might pay family wages," he said. "That doesn't mean we should legalize drugs."

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628