Strip Joint, Patrons Fighting Proposed Curbs Changes Would Prohibit Contact With Dancers, Alter Tipping, Require Licenses

Customers, employees and strippers from an adult entertainment hot spot are flooding Spokane County with form letters protesting regulations that would end “lap dancing.”

By Friday, county commissioners had received about 1,000 preprinted protest cards mailed by the Deja Vu nightclub in the Spokane Valley.

Customers and staff were asked to write their names and addresses on the cards, but Deja Vu provided the postage - about $200 worth.

On Tuesday, commissioners will consider amending laws to prohibit nude or seminude dancers from coming within 4 feet of customers. No contact would be allowed between the two.

That would put an end to the dances that sometimes are performed by women squatting on customers’ laps or while standing on tables. Customers typically pay extra for such personal attention.

Under the new ordinance, customers could not tip performers before a dance, only after. The tip would have to be put in the dancer’s hand or a tip jar.

The regulations would require licenses for dancers.

Arcade owners would have to remove the doors from video booths, improve lighting and keep better tabs on customers’ activities.

Three Spokane Valley businesses would be affected: Deja Vu, 8722 E. Sprague; Ms Kitty’s adult arcade, 6311 E. Sprague; and Paradise Books, 12112 E. Sprague, which has adult arcade booths.

The City Council may consider adopting the same ordinance later this year, said City Attorney Jim Sloane. The city has no regulations for nude dancers.

Proponents say the new regulations would cut down on drug dealing, crime and lewd behavior.

But the form letters say the change would limit “freedom of choice” for customers, waste taxpayers’ money and police time, and have “a devastating effect” on employees’ earnings.

Some of the cards include personal notes.

“I know this would force other entertainers and I to seek public assistance at great cost to taxpayers of Washington state,” wrote a dancer.

“Please don’t take away my rights as a U.S. citizen,” a customer from Coeur d’Alene scribbled. “You already take enough away from me with taxes.”

“Washington state is communist,” wrote a Spokane customer.

There’s no telling how many of the protesters actually used their real names and addresses.

If the cards are accurate, the club’s customers come from as far away as Boston; Laconia, N.H.; Salt Lake City and its suburbs; and several California cities. Nearly all are men.

There were customers from many Idaho, Montana and Washington towns. One customer listed his address as Whitworth College, a Christian school in Spokane.

There were also several customers from Wallace, Idaho, which once was known for its madams and prostitutes.

Thirteen customers claimed to be from Fairchild Air Force Base.

A Deja Vu manager who identified himself only as Rob would not comment about the proposed ordinance or the cards. The club will have plenty to say at Tuesday’s hearing, he said.

In the past, Deja Vu has threatened to sue the county over any tougher regulations.

Regulations like those considered by the county were adopted earlier this month by the city of Shoreline. The owner of the only adult entertainment club in that Seattle suburb has said he’s considering a lawsuit to get the law overturned.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MEETING Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday will consider an ordinance regulating nude dancing and other adult entertainment. The hearing will be during the commissioners’ twice-monthly meeting, which starts at 5 p.m. in the Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway.