SAN BERNARDINO - The Flesh Club, once an all-nude venue on Hospitality Lane, lost its appeal Tuesday to secure a liquor license and reopen as a topless bar.
San Bernardino City Council members turned down a renewed attempt by the club, brushing aside claims that allowing the business a liquor license would make its dancers more likely to obey state and city laws.
Council members voted 6-0, with Tobin Brinker absent because he is attending the Republican National Convention.
The city's decision to uphold the planning commission's earlier denial of a liquor license was anticipated, said Roger Jon Diamond, an attorney representing the Flesh Club.
But the Flesh Club must make every effort to seek a liquor license to prepare the strongest case possible for future litigation, Diamond told City Council members prior to their unanimous decision to uphold the denial.
In July, the council denied the Flesh Club's application for a "Determination of Public Convenience or Necessity," a finding that the club legally must secure before it can receive a liquor license and reopen as a topless bar.
Under state law, businesses that feature topless dancers can obtain liquor licenses, but all-nude establishments can't.
The future of the club, located in a family oriented business district, has been in doubt since last fall when San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez ordered the business to cease all adult-oriented activities for eight months.
The order expired July 14. Diamond told council members that the club had hoped to be reopened by now but that their actions had hindered efforts.
Diamond claims that in his extensive experience representing adult-oriented businesses, topless bars are far less tolerant of salacious behavior than all-nude venues. He said topless bars go into the business recognizing that they face severe sanctions, including the possible loss of a valuable liquor license, if they let dancers touch or get too close to the patrons.
But in letters to city officials, managers of three businesses near the cabaret complained of patrons harassing passersby in the past. They predicted the patrons might be less inhibited if they've been drinking.
In July, council members didn't address Diamond's claim that topless bars are comparatively chaste. Instead, they ruled that the Flesh Club's Hospitality Lane neighborhood already has too many liquor licenses and they couldn't justify adding another.
Diamond argued that other businesses have been granted similar liquor licenses.
