SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The long-rumored purchase of an ownership share of Babe’s Cabaret by porn star Jenna Jameson has been made official, with the filing of paperwork with the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control earlier this month.State records show that Jameson has entered into a partnership with several other entrepreneurs from the adult video industry, with each holding an equal 25% share in the club.
Jameson’s partners in the Babe’s venture include both CEO Steven Hirsh and President Bill Asher of Vivid Entertainment, and New Jersey-based producer/distributor Frank Koretsky.
After the news of Jameson’s investment originally broke in Scottsdale newspapers, neighborhood activists and local politicians initiated an effort to close Babe’s, and its nearby competitor, Skin Cabaret.
Those seeking to close the clubs, or at least heavily restrict and regulate them, argue that the very presence of the clubs will interfere with an ongoing effort to “revitalize” the south Scottsdale area.
Both clubs are licensed to operate under Scottsdale’s Sexually Oriented Business Ordinance, which limits, among other things, the “proximity and contact between adult service providers and patrons” in the city’s strip clubs.
Earlier this summer, however, an investigative piece published by the East Valley Tribune revealed that former City Attorney David Pennartz had instructed Scottsdale police and city prosecutors to ignore violations at local clubs, pending the outcome of a lawsuit against Maricopa County brought by a similar strip club, which was being heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals at that time.
After the August 19th article in the Tribune made the lack of enforcement public, the Scottsdale police began sending undercover officers into the topless bars in order to investigate violations of the ordinance, as recent police department expense reports show.
The Scottsdale City Council is scheduled to consider a possible protest of Babe’s application to switch its liquor license to the new owners in a hearing on November 1st.
The council’s hearing is prompted by a new Arizona law which provides cities an opportunity to “comment” when a liquor license changes hands, according to Connie Padian, a Scottsdale customer service officer.
According to Padian, the hearing has nothing to do with the city’s Sexually Oriented Business Ordinance, and council members are more restricted in questioning the application for transfer of the business license than they would be if Babe’s were requesting a license for the first time.
“The only thing that we can comment on is the person’s capability, reliability and qualifications,” Padian said.
