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from www.heraldtribune.com – Strippers in the county’s only adult club — the Cheetah Lounge — will no longer be allow to dance fully nude or perform popular “lap dances” and “table dances” if a recent court ruling stands.

Lawyers for the Cheetah filed a lawsuit in 2009 challenging the county’s adult entertainment ordinance, passed in 2008, arguing it violated constitutional free speech rights and was too restrictive.

During the legal challenge, the county did not enforce the ordinance — which bans complete nudity. It took more than two years, including testimony from numerous expert witnesses and thousands of pages of evidence.

But in a ruling this month, Circuit Judge Lee Haworth upheld the ordinance, meaning the county will soon be allowed to inspect and make sure strippers are wearing G-strings and pasties over their nipples.

Haworth wrote that Sarasota County’s ordinance was less restrictive than similar ordinances in Manatee and Hillsborough counties that already passed constitutional challenges and appeals.

To be successful, the club at 3939 N. Washington Blvd. needed to cast doubt on all the county’s reasons for implementing the limitations, such as maintaining property values and decreasing crime near a sexually oriented business, Haworth wrote.

But Haworth found the lounge failed to counter the county’s straightforward rationale that prohibiting physical contact between patrons and performers would prevent illicit sexual contact in strip clubs.

Cheetah’s attorneys have asked Haworth to reconsider his decision, but that rarely happens in these circumstances unless some new facts are discovered.