MIRAMAR, FL – At a meeting tonight, Miramar City commissioners will vote on a measure banning the sale of alcohol at strip clubs and other adult establishments, despite the fact that the city currently has no such businesses.“We want to make sure our city is protected from the negative impacts of development and growth associated with this type of industry,” said Assistant City Manager Wazir Ishmael, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, adding that such a move is “proactive” on the part of the City.
In what some city staffers call a “preemptive measure,” the new regulations would include a requirement that adult businesses be located at least 1,500 feet away from all schools, recreation centers, parks, and other adult businesses.
The ordinance would also proscribe that patrons and dancers be separated by a distance of at least four feet and would require owners of adult businesses to obtain an “adult entertainment license” from the city, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The cost of such a license has not yet been decided.
Miramar is not the first community to contemplate imposing regulations on adult businesses without actually having any such businesses within its limits and joins a long list of Florida communities that have passed stricter regulations on adult businesses in recent years, including a number of other cities within Broward County. Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Parkland, and Margate have all recently revamped their adult businesses ordinances, as well.
First Amendment Attorney Daniel Aaronson told the Sun-Sentinel there’s no legitimate justification for some aspects of the ordinance under consideration in Miramar, but noted that taking such preemptive action is a good way to score political points in areas with a lot of socially conservative voters.
“It’s a great political thing for people in power to say to say, look at what we’re doing,” said Aaronson, who is based in Fort Lauderdale and has many adult businesses among his clients.
Aaronson said that studies demonstrate no connection between adult businesses and many of the so-called “secondary effects” that cities often argue they are seeking to mitigate through their adult business ordinances.
Due to the fact that strip clubs generally have tighter security and more bouncers than do ordinary bars, “a regular bar that serves alcohol will cause more problems,” Aaronson said.
Miramar city commissioners will meet tonight at 7:00pm, local time, to hold a preliminary vote on the new adult business regulations.
