SEATTLE, WA — Mayor Greg Nickels’ idea to create the Sodo cabaret district for strip clubs was rejected by the city’s Planning Commission on Thursday. Instead, the commission proposed that Seattle continue to view such establishments in the same way it views other performing arts centers located in commercial areas, although it acknowledged that some restrictions might need to be applied to clubs near sensitive neighborhoods.According to Commissioner Steven Sheehy, “The most troubling aspect of the mayor’s proposal to me was… no compelling cases were made for why we’re doing this.”
The commission’s report has no legal standing, but will likely result in further discussion about a number of issues that the city’s authorities and representatives have avoided for the past 17 years, during which continuous moratoriums on new clubs were employed in order to block any new development.
Originally justified as necessary in order to conduct proper study of the issue, moratoriums became the method of choice for avoiding the issue at all. That stopped last year when a federal court overturned the ban.
Unhappy with the new turn of events, Nickels suggested a 310-acre strip club zone south of Safeco Field, near Interstate 5. This did not set well with residents who live near the area — and the battles began.
Prompted by dozens of citizen complaints, Councilman Peter Steinbrueck requested that the Planning Commission look at the issue and propose a solution. Thursday’s draft report stated that the commission “does not endorse the mayor’s proposal as the ‘best way’ to regulate adult cabarets in the city of Seattle,” although it conceded that keeping clubs “far from almost every resident of the city, grouping them together for efficient policing and code enforcement, and removing them from other adult entertainment uses,” could have merit. Such a plan could be disadvantageous to Sodo industries and nearby neighborhoods, however.
In spite of nearly two decades of moratoriums, Seattle has never actually performed a comprehensive study of how strip clubs impact communities and property values. A representative for the mayor stated that such a study would not be supported by him and, instead, a decision should be made.
The commission expects to produce a final report by September 14th.
