Hitting the strip-club jackpot

A group of us here buys lottery tickets every week. Seems one possible way to hit it big, fast.

But I may have better luck applying to open a strip club in Seattle. Businessman Bob Davis did it, and two weeks ago, the city of Seattle awarded him a $500,000 settlement to make up for lost business. Davis, who founded (and sold) the Giggles Comedy Club in the University District, sued the city in February 2005 after it denied him a permit to open a "gentleman's club" in downtown Seattle. At the time, the city cited its moratorium on strip clubs, which it had renewed every year since 1988.

Months later, a federal judge called Seattle's strip-club moratorium unconstitutional. The city responded by establishing strict rules about strip-club tipping, lighting; it even required dancers to keep 4 feet away from customers.

Club owners have financed a referendum to overturn the rules, and have the signatures to put it on the November ballot. Until that high-heel shoe drops, potential club owners would be wise to wait on a permit.

But here's the thing: Those rules passed by the City Council and signed by Mayor Greg Nickels? They're not in effect while the city, too, waits for a vote on the referendum.

So there's no moratorium, and no rules. Nothing keeping any one of us from applying for a permit, likely getting stalled and maybe stuffing our own G-strings full of city dollars.

If the Davis settlement has taught us anything, it's that the city's dithering and love of process are costing us all.

Each time the issue of strip clubs has come up, the city has simply renewed the 1988 moratorium, like a library book it never took the time to read.

After all these years, Davis came along and wanted to take the book out. And since the city hadn't cracked the cover in years, well, it cost you and me a half-million-dollar fine.

Your tax dollars at work, for a City Council and mayor who aren't doing theirs.

"By saying 'No new clubs,' you're banning them entirely," said Kristin Olson, Davis' attorney.

The lawyer and client are now going after Bothell, which also enacted a moratorium when Davis came to town.

And Seattle? Well, Nickels has proposed creating a strip-club zone south of downtown.

The 310-acre industrial zone would start about one-quarter mile south of Safeco Field and stretch about two miles south, between Third Avenue South to the west and Interstate 5 to the east.

Clubs could not be larger than 5,000 square feet; could not be within 1,000 feet of parks, churches and day-care centers; and their signs could not be tall enough to be seen from I-5 or Highway 99.

Portland has zoned strip clubs and has 25 or 30. "And the city is not falling apart," Olson said.

"If you're going to zone for adult entertainment, or make rules," she said, "you should do it and not use it as an excuse to ban strip clubs altogether."

For once, listen to the lawyer. Seattle should get its proposed rules on the books, skip the zoning — and do it before taxpayers get stripped again.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Wednesday and Sunday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

And stay away from Georgetown.