HAMBURG, Iowa – A southwest Iowa strip club would face strict new rules under a city ordinance passed Monday, but the club will not go quietly.
Its owners plan a legal battle.
The Hamburg City Council voted 4 to 1 in favor of a “sexually oriented businesses” ordinance, which requires strip clubs like Shotgun Geniez to be licensed and regulated.
But Shotgun Geniez coowner Terry Rutledge said Monday that the city has gone too far.
“The ordinance is designed to close you down,” said Rutledge. “They use words like ‘regulate,’ but they’re trying to shut you down.”
That’s not so, according to Mayor Cathy Crain, who has said the ordinance did not target Shotgun Geniez.
Rather, it was designed to “promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare” of Hamburg residents, according to the ordinance itself.
The ordinance cites potential problems brought to cities by businesses such as strip clubs, adult bookstores and adult movie theaters, including prostitution, illicit sexual behavior and drug abuse, among others.
The law bans nude or seminude performers from coming within six feet of patrons and prevents them from accepting money directly from customers. It also bans the consumption of alcohol on site and requires businesses to submit to inspections and other restrictions.
Shotgun Geniez has 180 days to comply, but the business has decided to hire legal counsel instead, said Rutledge, who called the law a violation of his right to free speech.
This means more legal battles for the club, which gained greater notoriety when owner and former town mayor Clarence Judy successfully defended himself against three criminal charges earlier this year.
Judy had faced three counts of public indecent exposure involving a minor in connection with the nude performance of an underage girl in July 2007.
The club was not subject to Iowa’s obscenity laws, District Judge Timothy O’Grady ruled, because it is a theater.
In the past, the club has largely avoided regulation by not having paid employees (the dancers are independent contractors), not having a liquor license (customers can bring their own beer or wine), and by not charging admission to the club (patrons pay a “parking fee” to gain entry).