LONG BEACH – A gentleman’s club had its entertainment permit yanked Tuesday after officials said the establishment violated city rules by allowing nude dancing.

The decision by the City Council to revoke the permit at Flamingo Gentleman’s Club was stayed for 45 days, however, to allow the club time to appeal the ruling and possibly challenge the city’s ordinance banning nude dancing.

In casting the lone vote in the club’s favor, 2nd District Councilman Dan Baker said that taking away Flamingo’s permit could lead to a court challenge against the city’s nudity ban, which Baker said he would welcome.

“It seems to me that the law is inappropriate … and I hope somebody will challenge that law,” said Baker, a former federal prosecutor.

The club, located at 2421 E. Artesia Blvd., is accused of violating city rules banning nude or topless dancing by allowing girls to dance fully disrobed and allowing customers to touch them in private lap dance sessions.

The club is also accused of employing two 16-year-old girls as dancers, though club management contends the girls used fake documents to get their jobs.

A city ordinance approved in 1999 requires dancers to wear nontransparent coverings on their nipples.

Not long after the club was issued a renewed permit allowing alcohol sales and live entertainment in February 2003, Long Beach police vice detectives testified observing on several occasions women dancing topless and naked in violation of the permit.

During permit review hearings earlier this year, an officer also said he observed the two underage girls working as dancers. Afterward, a hearing officer recommended the permit be revoked.

Council members had the option of revoking the permit, holding additional hearings or sending it back to the hearing officer for more testimony.

Flamingo attorney Larry Diamond told the council he may challenge not only Tuesday’s ruling, but the city’s ban against nude dancing as well.

“The court will have the authority to decide if the nude ordinance is constitutional,” Diamond said after the vote. “The bottom line is, had they not stayed the decision for 45 days, I was prepared to file a lawsuit (this) morning.”

If such a lawsuit is filed, it wouldn’t be the first time Flamingo owners have gone to court challenging the city’s nudity ban. A 1999 court challenge of the law was thrown out by a judge who said communities can restrict nudity, but not adult entertainment.

Before the council voted, Long Beach City Attorney Bob Shannon said that the city’s nudity ban would withstand a court challenger.

Diamond has made a career out of representing adult entertainment businesses, and successfully challenged a proposed Los Angeles City ordinance requiring dancers and strip club patrons be separated by at least 6 feet.

The proposal ended with the Los Angeles City Council approving a watered-down version allowing lap dances, but banning private dance rooms.

Red light camerasIn other action at Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted 8-1 for a new two-year agreement with a red light camera operator to provide services at intersections across the city.The new agreement, which should have bulbs flashing by week’s end, is expected to eliminate six of the 16 cameras in use until Aug. 9, when the previous agreement lapsed. Since that time, the cameras have been off as officials discussed a new agreement and reviewed their effectiveness at curbing red light violations and accidents.

The cameras capture digital images of motorists running red lights, which police use to review and issue tickets by mail if so decided.

The $341 infractions net the city a percentage for each violation, and the city expects to collect $464,000 from the tickets per year, with Nestor receiving about $240,000 of that amount and the rest going to cover personnel costs.

Citing invasion of privacy concerns, lack of promised revenue from the tickets, high overhead costs and discrepancies on their usefulness, Councilman Dan Baker voted against the renewal.

The previous agreement called for Nestor to receive $97 per ticket, but a new law sponsored by Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach, requires vendors like Nestor to be paid a flat monthly fee.

Intersections targeted for removal have not yet been decided, but may include east/west Willow Street at Bellflower Boulevard and north/south Cherry Avenue at Artesia Boulevard.