SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. [CBS News] A judge ruled on Friday that the ownerof a Santa Fe Springs strip club must stop offering adult entertainmentby early Wednesday morning.
Ingranting the city’s request for a preliminary injunction, Los AngelesSuperior Court Judge Michael C. Solner ruled that the Spicy Gentleman’sClub at 12215 E. Slauson Ave. was operating in a manufacturing zone –which violates city code.
A non-jury trial has been set for July31 on whether or not a permanent injunction should be issued againstSpicy Gentleman’s Club and owner Edwin Kwong.
According to thecity’s lawsuit, which was filed May 1, both a stabbing and a shootinghave taken place at the club since it opened in July. The citymaintains the establishment is a public nuisance and that adultentertainment should only be offered in specified commercial areas ofSanta Fe Springs. According to the city’s court papers, other sites areavailable to Kwong.
Roger Jon Diamnnd, who is acting as theattorney for both the club and Kwong, says that his client knew hisbusiness was operating in the wrong zone, but his client chose to do soto test the constitutionality of the ordinance. He said none of thealternate sites are suitable venues for Spicy Gentleman’s Club.
Thepreliminary injunction will go into effect when the club closes at 2a.m. Wednesday morning. Deborah J. Fox, an attorney for the city, saidKwong cannot operate an adult entertainment business after that time,but would be allowed to convert it to a restaurant as he originallyproposed.
However, Diamond said Kwong’s dancers will most likely get dressed and back on the stage.
“If they have to put on the G-strings and pasties for a couple of weeks, that’s not a problem,” Diamond said.
Diamond asked Solner to delay the injunction until the trial, claiming the city was exaggerating the immediate need.
“There is no emergency,” Diamond said. “This is a constitutional issue of tremendous importance to my client.”
However, the city’s attorney claims the First Amendment offers little protection for Kwong.
“Thiscase is about nude dancing, which is barely protected, and lap dancing,which has no protection,” Fox said. “So the tie doesn’t go to the lapdancer.”
According to Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Furuyama, threemembers of the department’s vice unit went undercover to the club onApril 10.
Furuyama claims two dancers groped him and offered himlap dances for $40. Furuyama accepted both offers from the women. Afterthe first lap dance, one woman offered to take him to “the back” foranother $150, he said