SARASOTA, FL – The Cheetah Lounge in Florida’s Sarasota County finds itself in a familiar pickle; the Cheetah’s decade-old agreement with the county is coming to an end and the club may be forced to either cover up its dancers or lose its liquor license, if it cannot work out a new deal with the County – or beat them in court.Back in 1996, the Cheetah received a special exemption to a Sarasota County ordinance that banned nudity at liquor-licensed businesses. That exemption, which amounted to a 10-year grace period, comes to an end in November, leaving current Cheetah owner Bill Bullard in a bit of a bind.

The 1996 deal was a compromise between Cheetah’s then-owner who argued that his liquor license should be “grandfathered,” and county commissioners, who wanted the Cheetah’s dancers clothed. After Cheetah’s owner threatened costly litigation, the deal was struck, and the debate was deferred.

With the exemption’s expiration date nearing, Bullard is back at the bargaining table with the County, hoping to work out a new deal, or an extension of the original deal, before November 12th.

Should Bullard have to fight it out with the county in court, he has armed himself well for that battle, retaining both First Amendment and property rights attorneys to prepare a novel legal strategy based on a Florida property rights law that has never been fully tested by an adult business.

According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, Bullard’s legal team is considering suing the county under the provisions of the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act, an Act adopted by the state in 1995.

Section 2 of the Act states that “When a specific action of a governmental entity has inordinately burdened an existing use of real property or a vested right to a specific use of real property, the property owner of that real property is entitled to relief, which may include compensation for the actual loss to the fair market value of the real property caused by the action of government, as provided in this section.”

Tampa attorney Ronald Weaver, an expert in property rights, and particularly versed in the Bert Harris Act, told the Herald-Tribune that the law was “written with all types of properties in mind.”

“It [the Act] specifically didn’t contemplate leaving anyone out,” Weaver said, noting that unlike a similar law in Oregon that excludes property with “pornographic uses,” the Florida statute includes no such exception.

One other strip club in Florida has sued the under the Bert Harris Act, but when Club Juana sued the city of Orlando and Seminole County using the Act, the matter never made it to court.

In July, Club Juana shut down after the Florida Dept of Transportation paid the club’s owners $3.4 million dollars for the property. The State reportedly intends to raze the building to make way for a highway interchange.

Sarasota County attorneys have not commented on how they might approach a lawsuit filed under the Act, saying only that the “county attorney’s office is aware that the exemption for the Cheetah Lounge will expire November 12th and they are examining the ordinance and will advise the county of any legal issues that might arise,” according to the Herald Tribune.

Bullard and his attorneys say they would prefer to work out an extension of the current agreement with the County and are seeking to extend the term out to the year 2027. If such an agreement can’t be reached, though, Bullard promised a staunch challenge to any attempt to enforce the liquor license restrictions on his club, saying he intends to “fight this until the burning end.”

“I’ve played many hands of poker with county commissions around the state,” Bullard told the Herald Tribune. “I’ve been doing this a long time. If the county wants to get involved in a major lawsuit and pay me millions of dollars, that’s fine. But I don’t think residents would want that.”

As to whether complying with the county’s ordinance would be burdensome, Bullard claims that requiring his dancers to cover up would cut the club’s annual revenues in half and his attorneys say limiting the property use would devalue the property itself.

“The property is worth a certain value under the status quo,” said Luke Lirot, a Tampa-based First Amendment specialist who is among the attorneys retained by Bullard. “It’s worth significantly less if that value is detracted from what’s there now.”

Other legal experts have expressed skepticism that Cheetah’s could prevail in a claim under the Bert Harris Act, noting that the Act does not cover “a public nuisance at common law” or to “noxious use of private property.”

Bullard and his legal team, however, take umbrage with that comment, observing that the club doesn’t break any laws, has not been a problem spot for local police, and does not generate complaints from nearby residents.

“The business should be allowed to continue, as is, because it doesn’t generate any offensive behavior,” said Lirot. “I’m confident we’ll either work something out with the county or we’ll work something out in the courts.”

The complete text of the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act is available on the Florida Senate website, at the following URL:
http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?App_Mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0070/Sec001.htm&StatuteYear=2004