SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Scottsdale city officials and neighborhood activists, citing concerns over crime and civil order, are calling for the shutdown of two strip clubs on the city’s south side, including one in which Jenna Jameson reportedly has purchased ownership.According to the Scottsdale police records, Skin Cabaret, located on N. Scottsdale Rd., generated as many calls for “service” by July of this year as the club had in all of 2004. Last year, there were 3 reported assaults at Skin, while 6 had been documented through June of this year.
Police Chief Alan Rodbell said he doesn’t believe the increase in incidents is cause for concern, however.
“I don’t see a pattern here at all,” Rodbell said, adding that the majority of the calls from Skin were related to minor incidents, some of which occurred outside the bar. Rodbell also characterized all 7 assaults that have taken place at Skins over the last 18 months as “isolated incidents.”
“Seven incidents in a year and a half that are assault, and none of them are patterned,” Rodbell said. “If it’s the same gang coming back causing the same problems, or every night there’s fights, stabbings, you’ve got a real problem.”
Some Scottsdale city officials, however, see things in a different light, and City Councilman Bob Littlefield questioned whether the police are downplaying the significance of the problem.
“My fear is that what this is is an attempt to not come down too hard on these guys,” Littlefield said.
Babe’s Cabaret, the club in which Jameson reportedly has purchased a stake, is also being scrutinized by the city, but the thrust of their argument with respect to Babe’s appears related not to crime (police records show that Babe’s has had no assaults this year), but to issues surrounding Scottsdale’s “image.”
“What is it going to be – that’s really the big question,” said Scottsdale City Manager Jan Dolan. “It is a concern to us. We have a very positive cachet with our name, and do we want to get it connected to the porn industry?”
One aspect of the situation with Babe’s involves Scottsdale’s land-use rules for adult businesses. City officials said that Babe’s is considered a legal non-conforming use, which was “grandfathered” under Scottsdale’s 1978 adult land-use rules. According to the city, the Babe’s building was built in 1965 and has offered topless dancing since the mid-70s.
Dolan said at this point, City Hall doesn’t even know the details surrounding Jameson’s partnership. If Jameson is solely an investor, then it may not even technically constitute a change in ownership. If, however, Jameson seeks to substantially change the nature of the existing business, the city could have more standing to restrict its activities, as the new ownership would be required to obtain appropriate permits under the city’s sexually-oriented businesses ordinance.
While concerned neighbors and like-minded officials are quick to associate many negatives like crime and moral decay with adult-oriented businesses, the city of Scottsdale has found that there can be considerable costs associated with targeting adult businesses, as well.
Back in 1993, a strip club called Tiffany’s Cabaret operated briefly at the old Windmill Dinner Theater building (now a nightclub called “Buzz”) near the intersection of Scottsdale Rd. and Shea Blvd. The Scottsdale City Council reacted to Tiffany’s opening by creating the sexually-oriented businesses ordinance, and eventually succeeded in their opposition to the club, and Tiffany closed its doors after only a few months.
The story did not end there, however; the city’s campaign against Tiffany’s was countered by a lawsuit, which the council settled in 1995 for over $200,000. In another mid-90’s case, Scottsdale was forced to pick up $45,000 in legal costs for Zorba’s Adult Shop, which fought its own legal battle with the city. Zorba’s is located at 2924 N. Scottsdale Rd., a stone’s throw up the street from Babe’s, which sits at 2001 N.
Whatever the eventual outcome, it appears that Scottsdale is indeed gearing up for another fight with local adult businesses. Even though unsure of the status of Jameson’s purported stake in Babe’s, the city council is getting prepared for a fight, and circling their legal wagons.
“Part of it is ‘wait and see’,” conceded City Manager Dolan, “but we’re not just sitting around and waiting; we are looking at what our options are.”
