SARASOTA, FL — “Stripping” took on a new complexion in Sarasota County last week when county commissioners approved a law that redefines acceptable behavior in the county’s lone gentlemen’s club.From now on, exotic dancers will be required to wear pasties and G-strings, and all dancing must be done on a stage.
The new law is quite a departure from the 1996 version that allowed nudity and lap dances, but it represents a compromise between the county and the club, and both sides said they are satisfied, at least for now.
“I’m concerned about the stage issue — that could be a major problem — but everything else I can live with,” Cheetah Lounge owner Ken Tatarow told the Herald-Tribune newspaper.
At one point, county fathers had threatened to ban alcohol from all adult establishments, mandate dancers remain six feet from patrons, and require all adult-business employees to be licensed. Those would have been bigger problems for his business, Tatarow admitted.
The stage issue could be cause for a lawsuit against the ordinance, Tatarow said, depending upon how it is interpreted. If by “stage” the ordinance means the tabletops sometimes used for private dances now, he said he could accept that. If “stage” is interpreted to mean a raised surface at the front of the house specifically dedicated to dancing, that would be a problem. Private dances are among the most popular and profitable activities at cabarets, he noted.
“I guess I’m confused about the stages,” he told the Herald-Tribune. “That will have to be clarified.”
The new ordinance was enacted May 14th after several years of contentious public debate about the topic. Activists on both sides of the issue alternately packed the county commission’s chambers with supporters and distributed eye-catching visual aids — like miniature stripper dolls and newspapers clippings about tawdry dancer behavior.
In the end, though, the commissioners and the club managed to work out a deal. One commissioner even suggested requiring pasties was a bit too conservative. After all, he noted, there are sculptures of female nudes in the county.
