Nude Dance Club Opens Despite City Warnings : Northridge: Owners contend that the business is not in violation of zoning laws. Officials and residents have voiced opposition.
Ignoring warnings from city officials, owners of a nude dance club opened for business in Northridge Thursday night, sticking to their contention that the club violates no zoning laws.
“We are in full compliance,†said Steve Gamer, spokesman for the Extasy club. “We have been approved by all city agencies. Anything occurring at this point is political posturing.â€
The club site was the target of a campaign last year by neighbors, local businesses and Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, to block establishment of a club offering entertainment by nude dancers.
Bernson’s office continued to maintain Thursday that the new club was opening in violation of zoning laws and should be closed down. “The whole use is not compatible or appropriate for the area,†said Ali Sar, a Bernson aide.
Formerly known as the Breakers Seafood Restaurant, the club is on Corbin Avenue near Nordhoff Street next to a Burger King restaurant, Abe’s Deli and Family Restaurant, and an office building.
Whether the club was legally entitled to open was a matter of dispute between the owners, who said yes; the Department of Building and Safety, which said no, and the city attorney’s office, which said the issue was unclear.
Building and safety inspectors earlier Thursday warned the club’s owners that they could not legally operate without a zoning permit and would be cited if they went through with the announced opening, Gamer said.
The site has been the focus of a dispute since July, when a company called Seven for the Money Inc. applied for a zoning permit to open a juice bar there with nude dancers.
Members of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce, a Northridge church and city officials, including Bernson, expressed strong opposition, and the company withdrew its application before a zoning hearing was to be held.
The hearing was held anyway and Dana Goldwaite, president of Western State Enterprises, which owned the Breakers at the time, assured residents that the club would feature 1950s and country-Western music, and would cater to 50- to 80-year-olds.
The proposal appeared to be a dead issue, but recently signs advertising nude dancing appeared on the front of the building. Last month, the Los Angeles Police Commission issued a cafe and entertainment permit for the location to Seven for the Money Inc., headed by Alan Kayoshi Minato.
According to Tony Abssy, spokesman for the Breakers, Goldwaite sold the club to Seven for the Money late last year.
The Department of Building and Safety continued to oppose the club.
“It was determined that this zone was not approved for having adult entertainment,†said Art Johnson, chief of the department’s Bureau of Community Safety.
The club is in an area zoned C-4, in which nude dancing clubs are not allowed without a variance from the Office of Zoning Administration, which is part of the Department of City Planning, Johnson said.
But the club’s owners maintain that it is in an “industrial zone†and thus needs no additional permit from the city.
The city attorney’s office is reviewing the matter, spokesman Ted Goldstein said. “Currently, there are two attorneys that are working with Councilman Bernson’s office to review . . . the adult entertainment ordinance as to whether or not Extasy falls into compliance,†he said.
The law provides guidelines for such establishments, including a provision that they cannot operate within 1,000 feet of another adult entertainment business or within 500 feet of a religious institution, Goldstein said.
Supporters, patrons and a small number of opponents showed up for the opening of the club Thursday night and some exchanged sharp words.
Fred Mesirov, who has an office across from the club, said he was “shocked and amazed†that the club had opened after the campaign against it in July. “We’re very concerned about what is going to happen here,†he said.
While a long line of mostly male patrons filed into the club, about a dozen opponents gathered in the parking lot to voice their anger and surprise.
“This is a college town,†Northridge resident Jessica Wagner said. “We don’t need places that bring violence and prostitution.â€
Marsha Collier of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce called the club a dangerous threat to the community.
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