Hands-Off Law Proposed For Adult Entertainment Ordinance Would Limit Contact Between Customers, Dancers

An ordinance designed to tighten the reins on adult entertainment businesses in Spokane County will be presented to county commissioners in mid-October.

Ordinance No. 97 would impose new regulations on businesses that offer live adult or arcade-type entertainment. It would not affect businesses that sell only adult books and materials.

Three businesses would be affected. All are in the Valley: Deja Vu, 8722 E. Sprague; Miss Kitty’s, 6311 E. Sprague; and Paradise Books, 12112 E. Sprague.

The measure would prohibit physical contact between dancers and patrons, and also impose a minimum 4-foot distance between them. Dancers and businesses would also have to obtain licenses.

Proponents say the law would cut down on drug dealing, crime and lewd behavior in the facilities.

“We have people who are masturbating and having sex with other people in these places,” said Patti Walker, the county’s deputy prosecuting attorney who wrote the ordinance. “These are public places, and any kind of sexual contact is illegal.”

Adult businesses have a right to operate, she said, but within a context of public health and safety.

The 32-page ordinance is nearly identical to a Bellevue law that has been upheld in court battles. In addition to new regulations for nude dancing, adult arcade facilities would also have to meet tough new standards.

Paradise Books would have to reconfigure its adult arcade booths, removing doors, fill in holes between booths, and improving lighting. Management also would be required to monitor the activity in each booth.

The current configuration of adult arcades contributes to lewd behavior, said Penny Lancaster, a 52-year-old schoolteacher and longtime anti-pornography warrior.

“When you have these maze-like hallways, with machine-cut holes between walls and little dark closets with doors that lock, you’re encouraging this kind of activity.”

But making those improvements can become cost-prohibitive for small arcades such as Paradise, said Jack Burns, a Seattle attorney who represents Deja Vu and other adult businesses.

County commissioners like the ordinance.

“I expect there to be opposition from the operators,” said Commissioner Kate McCaslin. “I am very supportive of it. If we pass it, we will enforce it.”

Commissioner John Roskelley said most of the voters in Spokane County are in support of the ordinance.

If the measure is passed, Deja Vu would likely fight the law in court, said Burns. A prolonged court battle could stop the county from enforcing the ordinance for months.

Burns says the ordinance would put the affected businesses out of business and remove the “illusion of privacy” in adult facilities.

“It has a dramatic effect on the income of the club. Most customers are not interested in buying a private performance at a (4-foot) distance,” he said. “There’s no illusion of privacy anymore.”

He also said Spokane voters would not support the ordinance.

Last month, researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, surveyed 400 residents of Shoreline, Wash., about nude dancing.

Nearly 60 percent of those polled disagreed with this statement: “the government has the right to regulate nude dancing in adult clubs.”

No similar study has been conducted in Spokane County.

Adult entertainment facilities typically do not rely on public opinion to fight ordinances, but Burns said that it “may be time to come out with full-scale public attack.”

The owners of Miss Kitty’s and Paradise Books refused to comment.

Walker expects the county commissioners to pass the ordinance.

She plans to present the same ordinance to Spokane City Council for adoption. The city currently has no law governing nude dancing.

“We are not violating anyone’s constitutional rights,” Walker said. “I can’t envision any reasons why it wouldn’t pass.”

Adult video arcades must reconfigure booths. Booth doors must be removed, and holes between viewing stations must be filled in. Managers must have full view of each booth at all times.

Facilities must meet new lighting requirements.

All adult entertainment facilities and all individual entertainers must obtain a license.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ORDINANCE 97 Ordinance No. 97 tightens regulations of adult entertainment facilities in Spokane County. Major highlights of the proposed law: The “4-foot rule” means dancers and other adult entertainers must stay at least four feet away from patrons. Physical contact would be illegal under the new ordinance. Tips may not be given to dancers prior to a performance, only afterward, and may be placed only in the hand of the entertainer. Nude dancing would be permitted only on stage. Simulation of sex acts would be illegal.