Sandy Springs, Georgia- Send the kids to bed and station a bouncer at the doors to City Hall if the next Sandy Springs City Council meeting is as interesting as Tuesday's.
In a government meeting unlike most, the Sandy Springs Council heard graphic accounts from private investigators about what they say goes on in the city's three strip clubs. The seven City Council members, considering tougher rules for adult entertainment, sat stone faced as investigators from the Marietta security firm Business Consulting and Investigations told them what dancers did to them, what they showed them, and what they promised. The meeting's minutes could be mailed to a men's magazine for money. Fortunately, there were no scouts there earning merit badges, or students being recognized for making the honor roll.
The investigators talked about ham-fisted bouncers earning their pay correcting misbehaving patrons. They talked about costs ($4 to park! $10 to get in! Plus drinks, plus $20 for an up-close-and-personal dance, plus $325 for a back room, really-up-close-and-personal dance, satisfaction guaranteed!).
Like a new sheriff in the old West, the Sandy Springs City Council is determined to clean up the fledgling city by imposing a host of stricter regulations for adult entertainment businesses.
"It was one of the first things people said: 'When are you going to get rid of those places on Roswell Road?'" Councilwoman Ashley Jenkins said early Tuesday of campaign trail encounters. "We're not trying to put them out of business. We just want them put in a place that's not affecting redevelopment of Roswell Road."
Last week, in the first meeting of the entire City Council, the city's attorneys unveiled new regulations to crack down on adult establishments. They also handed council members a stack of studies they said show crime accompanies adult businesses, a common justification for tougher rules.
The City Council wants the ordinance in place by January, when all businesses in Sandy Springs have to apply for a yearlong business license.
But the adult businesses aren't cowed by the city's proposed rules. At a public hearing Tuesday, owners of adult clubs and stores showed up with their own lawyers.
Attorney Alan Begner, who represents one of three strip clubs and several adult video stores in Sandy Springs, said tales by security consultants should not be grounds for running everyone out of town. "If it's true, arrest [the offenders] and revoke their license. But don't punish everyone," Begner said.
"I don't see it happening. I'm in these clubs all the time and I never get to see the good stuff," he said.
The proposed ordinance, based on similar court-tested laws in Marietta, Kennesaw, and Gwinnett County, include such restrictions as banning alcohol in nude dancing clubs, prohibiting customers from touching the dancers, and restricting hours of operation.
It also forbids them from locating within 500 feet of a residence, church, school, other adult business, or government office. The courts have said that local governments can't ban adult businesses or zone them out of existence, but they can dictate where they can go and set rules under which they operate.
Mayor Eva Galambos has said that the studies distributed by the city's attorneys show that crime and prostitution accompany adult businesses.
Begner disputes that, citing a Fulton County police study in 1997 that analyzed six nude dancing establishments - including three in Sandy Springs - and showed more crime at regular clubs.
But Begner says the city's proposed ordinance is just a roundabout way to shutdown adult businesses.
Pat Hagan, 62, of Sandy Springs said he's concerned about the effect of adult businesses on property values.
"I'm not surprised at anything I've heard tonight. I haven't been in those places, but I didn't fall off of a Christmas tree," he said with a smile.
He added, "I was just kidding about telling that guy the prices had gone up."
Stay tuned: The public hearing is continued to next Tuesday.
