The city of Seattle's 17-year-old "temporary" moratorium on new strip-club licenses was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart last Monday, September 12, ending a de facto ban on new strip clubs that has lasted nearly two decades.
Back in March, aspiring strip-club owner Bob Davis filed a legal challenge to the moratorium, arguing that it constituted an unconstitutional permanent restriction on protected speech. Davis also sought $5 million in damages from the city. In the ruling, which addresses only the first part of Davis's claim, Robart agreed with Davis, calling the moratorium "an unconstitutional prior restraint on free expression."
In his ruling, Robart says he is "unpersuaded by the city's attempt to justify 17 years of delay by arguing that 'adult dancing is alive and well' in Seattle and that its failure to adopt new legislation 'was due to legitimate reasons other than censorship'... The city is not permitted to selectively uphold the First Amendment."
City attorney Tom Carr says the city can't appeal the ruling, which is only a partial summary judgment, until Davis's claim for damages goes to trial next September. Meanwhile, Davis says he's interested in opening a strip club near downtown, but he and other potential strip-club owners remain in legal limbo until the city council considers new regulations proposed by Mayor Greg Nickels that would include a ban on lap dances and a rule requiring that all strip clubs be brightly lit. Strip-club advocates like Davis say the new regulations will deter new clubs from opening and will likely put existing clubs out of business. "If they have so many restrictions that we can't even operate, they're going to wind up getting sued again," Davis says.
City Council Member Peter Steinbrueck, who says there's a "growing unease" among council members about the mayor's proposed regulations, has hinted that he may seek to delay a vote on the new regulations until the council takes up new zoning rules that would specify where new strip clubs can be located.
Council members have argued that Seattle needs a four-foot rule to put it on a legal par with neighboring cities; without the lap-dance ban and other restrictions, they argue, the city would be putting out the welcome mat for new strip clubs. However, an analysis by one council staffer showed that of four nearby cities without four-foot rulesâRedmond, Lynnwood, Shoreline, and Des Moinesâonly one, Shoreline, has any strip clubs at all. The other three have restrictive zoning regulations that discourage clubs from opening in residential areasâexactly the type of regulations the council will take up now that the ban has been overturned.
barnett@thestranger.com