Par-tay. Can you feel the decadence flowing now, kids? Can dancing be far behind?
Beginning April 1st in the City of Wyoming, you can walk into a restaurant on a Sunday and buy alcohol by the glass. Monday night councilmembers debated and discussed the measure, then amended the Sunday alcohol ordinance four votes to two.
The ordinance does not allow for alcohol carryout or sales at local bars and taverns. The lifting of the ban only pertains to Wyoming restaurants.
Back in Grand Rapids, the fight against Immorality (with a capital "I") goes on. Or not.
So tonight we're going to party like it's 1959.
GRAND RAPIDS -- To Judy Rose, it doesn't matter if a strip club is coming to her neighborhood or not -- she still wants a city ordinance to govern what happens inside such establishments.
"The fact remains that all of those businesses need to be regulated," said Rose, president of the Black Hills Citizens for a Better Community.
As city commissioners prepare for a hearing Tuesday on an ordinance to restrict activities in all adult-oriented businesses, the future of the club that started her campaign is in doubt.
Mark London, the strip club owner who planned to open "Showgirls Galleria" near Rose's neighborhood, announced March 9 he may sell his building at 234 Market Ave. SW to the developer of a yet-to-be-disclosed downtown project.
If his buyer follows through on an option before it expires at midnight Thursday, London said, he has no plans to open another club in the city. If the option expires, he hopes to open "Showgirls" by May 1.
Either way, London said he will sue the city if commissioners adopt the ordinance, because it also would affect Sensations, his other strip club, near Centerpointe Mall.
"I would have no choice but to fight the ordinance," he said. "This is a pretty draconian ordinance; it's pretty severe, and I don't think it can pass constitutional muster."
As a matter of fact- a case such as this was just shot down in Federal Court. The city of Southgate passed a "no nudity" ordinance, the Feds ruled against it, and the city had to pay.
SOUTHGATE -- City attorneys are negotiating attorney fees with the owner of a Downriver juice and coffee bar after a federal judge struck down Southgate's ordinance that banned public nudity this month, allowing the bar to again feature naked female dancers.
Edward Zelenak, city attorney for Southgate, said the city didn't plan to appeal Taylor's ruling and was discussing with attorneys for John Hamilton, the owner of Henry the Eighth's South, how much the city would have to pay. In federal court, the prevailing party in a lawsuit is typically entitled to attorneys' fees.
Ending a five-year legal battle, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor on Feb. 13 struck down an ordinance that had effectively barred Henry the Eighth's South in Southgate from featuring nude women.
I believe the Southgate ordinance was stricter than the one that GR is proposing. We will allow nudity in plays.
Taylor noted in her opinion that the club is just two blocks from a church. Her 15-page opinion found that the ordinance "is overbroad because it chills possible future protected conduct (i.e. nudity in plays or other high culture entertainment) and must fail for that reason."
Anyone want to try and define what is "high culture" and what isn't? Hmmm? Maybe London can have strippers perform "Cats", or something. This is not a place we want to go.
Another disturbing note in this article- the question of the funding for any kind of lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Rose said she received a $7,000 pledge Friday that put her fund over the $100,000 mark. However, she said she has only $1,298 in the bank and declined to identify any of her donors.
"We're just spending a lot of time in prayer and asking God to make them sensitive to keeping Grand Rapids a clean, moral city," she said.
Before commissioners adopt the ordinance, Heartwell said, he wants an "ironclad agreement" that guarantees the city will have access to Rose's legal defense fund.
"I would want to see those pledges converted to real cash when we need it," he said.
Say what? She doesn't have proof positive that she has the bucks that she says she does? Is it buried in the backyard? What kind of bullshit is that?
I'd love to know the total amount spent on the Detroit case. It took five years and I'll bet it cost more than 100 grand.
I hope my city isn't stupid enough to try to fight this. Big waste of money that we don't have. And if Heartwell is going for some "ironclad agreement", he better check with the lawyers on the legality of that. I wonder how that could be enforceable- would we then have to sue this woman when she doesn't come up with the money, costing us even more money?