from www.pittsbughlive.com – Although they cited no problems, Downtown stakeholders including Pittsburgh Public Schools and The Cultural Trust said that they oppose an expansion of Blush, a longtime gentleman’s club on Ninth Street, next to the Creative and Performing Arts high school.
“Without question, we’ve coexisted,” said J. Kevin McMahon, president and CEO of the trust. “We’re not about eliminating a legitimate business, but we are not interested in having this kind of business expand.”
The city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment continued a hearing on the club’s expansion plan until March 10, to give developers and opponents two chances to discuss the proposal and work out any problems.
Club owner Albert Bortz wants to expand into a vacant building he owns at the corner of Ninth Street and Penn Avenue. His attorney, Jonathan Kamin, said the club entrance would move down the street away from the school. The business would not face Penn.
In addition to the trust, City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who represents Downtown, and school district officials and some property owners told zoning board members they oppose the idea.
School Director Mark Brentley Sr. said hundreds of charter school students walk past the club daily, passing billboards and windows and club patrons.
“It is a miracle we haven’t had any (problems) so far,” Brentley said.
Bortz and his predecessors have operated an adult entertainment club in the building at 135 Ninth St. for about 50 years, predating the city’s zoning code. City law prohibits expanding any nonconforming business if the expansion would increase the size of the business by 25 percent. Kamin said this expansion would be less than that.
Two strip clubs are poised to open despite zoning restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to open such a club within the city.
“The owners think they will make money. They know people like to go to strip clubs,” said Warner Mariani, a lawyer who represents owners of a proposed North Side club.
Zoning limits on strip clubs often please owners, said Mariani, who settled a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a city ordinance designed to limit strip club locations. The settlement agreement allows a Hustler Club to open in Chateau, a neighborhood near Rivers Casino, and for the ordinance to stand.
“It’s actually a perfect world,” Mariani said. “We are going to open, and nobody else can.”
The future Club Marquise, to be on West Carson Street near Station Square in the South Side, was cleared last month when Commonwealth Court ruled the city failed to conduct a public hearing on the proposal or prove the business would harm the neighborhood.
The city’s other adult clubs are Cricket Lounge in Oakland and Cheerleaders Gentleman’s Club in Bloomfield.
Municipal efforts to limit strip clubs are not unusual, said Allan Priaulx, a spokesman for Rick’s Cabaret International, the country’s largest strip club chain with 21 locations in Florida, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina and Texas.
“Most cities make it very difficult to open a gentlemen’s club, which is why not many new clubs open,” Priaulx said. “So having a license is a very valuable asset, and new licenses are almost never offered.”
There are an estimated 4,000 strip clubs in the United States, according to Association of Club Owners, a Washington-based trade association.