DETROIT, MI – Faced with the prospect of a federal lawsuit, some Detroit City Council members say they’d like to “reconsider” the votes cast Wednesday to reject a topless dancing license/permit transfer from what is currently known as the Zoo Bar to potential owners who want to open a Larry Flynt Hustler Club in the property, located at 415 E. Congress in downtown Detroit.The prospective property owners, HDV-Greektown LLC, have a federal lawsuit pending against the city, claiming it’s illegal to halt the transfer of the entertainment and topless activity license transfer under which the Zoo Bar currently operates.

Council Pro Tem Monica Conyers said this week that she wants to reconsider her “no” vote, a vote that is expected to happen at a meeting Friday afternoon. The council originally rejected the license transfer in a 5-3 vote.

Attorney Frank Palazzolo, who represents HDV Greektown, said his clients originally filed suit when the city council earlier declined to act on the proposed transfer, back in 2003. Palazzolo said that if the Council sticks to its “no” vote, his client will simply press forward with his lawsuit.

“My client is disappointed with today’s vote and we’ll just continue with the litigation that has already been instituted,” Palazzolo said, according to the Detroit Free Press.

One of the three council members to vote for the transfer, Sheila Cockrel, declined to comment except to note that her vote was made in consideration of the “serious litigation” that is pending against the city.

Kwame Kenyatta, one of the council members to vote against the license transfer, told the Free Press that he’s not concerned about the lawsuit.

“I think we’ll weather the storm on this,” Kenyatta said.

The club owners first brought suit against the city council when it tried to prevent the opening of the “Déjà Vu” strip club at the same location. A judge ruled in favor of the club, at which time the owners also discussed the possibility of opening as a Hustler club.

While the court’s ruling allowed the owners to open Déjà Vu, the council never approved the transfer of the liquor license.

Prior to the most recent vote by the council, attorney Richard Mack, who represents the “Perfecting Church” in Detroit, urged the council to vote against the license transfer, arguing that the Hustler club would drive down property values and drive up crime in the area.

Although the Zoo Bar is licensed for topless entertainment, Mack noted that the location has not been used as an adult entertainment venue for at least two years, and observed that the club has been mainly used as a venue for concerts in the interim.

Mack appears to have omitted reference to a weeklong celebration held at the Zoo Bar just prior to Super Bowl XL last February, however, during which Jenna Jameson hosted a party at the Zoo Bar that featured topless dancing and appearances by several other stars from the adult entertainment industry, in addition to Jameson.

“We must stand against this,” Mack said, according to the Free Press. “In this case, the club will be one of the largest strip clubs in the area, if not the state, within one block of a child day care center where parents may have to pick up their children at night.”

Palazzolo offered a different perspective and argued that the new business would bring new jobs and added revenue, not crime and blight.

“We have an opportunity to make it one of the nine Hustler clubs around the world,” said Palazzolo earlier this week. “The staff would be anywhere from 100 to 125 employees and there would be a substantial amount of capital improvements.”