County Outlaws ‘Lap Dancing’ Tougher Ordinance Passed For Strip Clubs, Arcade Booths
Exotic dancers wept but Christians praised the Lord after county commissioners voted to end “lap dancing” at a popular Spokane Valley strip club.
The new regulations, which become law in February, are 36 pages long. But the most contested section is one that requires nude or seminude dancers to stay at least four feet from customers.
Other portions of the ordinance affect two businesses where customers can view videos or nude dancing from booths that won’t be so private anymore. The 4-foot rule affects only the Deja Vu Gentlemen’s Club, whose attorney promised Tuesday to challenge the constitutionality of the regulations.
The commissioners’ quick and unanimous decision came after two hours of testimony that ranged from the obvious - “This type of dancing serves to arouse the libido of the male patrons,” said one woman - to the remarkable.
Several dancers testified that rubbing their customers in sexually explicit ways is the best way they can support themselves and their children. Strippers make hundreds of dollars in a six-hour shift - but not if they can’t touch customers, several people testified.
“Yeah, they sit on your lap and grind around and get you excited. That’s what you pay for. That’s why you’re there,” said one customer, who praised Deja Vu managers for “keeping it decent.”
Deja Vu supporters said there’s little evidence of prostitution and other crimes in the business.
But the most compelling testimony in support of regulations came from a former dancer who said drug use is rampant in the dressing rooms.
Kimberly Drake said that in the two years she stripped, she earned anywhere from $250 to $400 a day by giving as many as 20 lap dances.
“After a short time there, I learned that I earned more money if I touched the customer’s genital area,” said Drake.
Deja Vu dancers said they’ll have to give up dreams of buying houses and cars and getting college degrees. Other jobs don’t pay as well, said dancer Michelle White, a single mother, new homeowner, college student and aspiring English teacher.
White said she used to drop off her children at a day-care center each day at 7 a.m. and wouldn’t see them again until 9 p.m. Now, she said, her 6-year-old daughter is the top reader in her class “because I’m at home to teach her.”
“The most important thing to me in the whole wide world is being a mom and being there for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and soccer,” said Angela Johnson, an eight-year Deja Vu veteran and selfproclaimed “churchgoer.”
Shiralee Melton of Longview, Wash., said that as a born-again Christian, she can’t stand the thought of what her daughter does at the Deja Vu. But, she said, she fears the new regulations will force the business underground, where it won’t be regulated at all.
“I just challenge churches in this community to reach out and help these girls … instead of judging and criticizing,” said Melton. “This could be a better community.”
After the hearing, several Spokane Christians told Melton they appreciated her comments and would work to find jobs for the dancers.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE NEW LAW Spokane County’s new adult entertainment ordinance will: Prohibit nude and semi-nude dancers from touching audience members. Require adult arcades to close between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. each day. Require annual licenses and fees for dancers, businesses and each TV monitor in an arcade. Prohibit doors on booths. Require tips to be put only in tip jars or a dancer’s hand.