DESTIN, Florida – from www.nwfdailynews.com- The city will not compromise on its new restrictions on nude dancing, City Manager Greg Kisela says.

Terry Stephenson, who leases The Oasis pool hall on Mountain Drive, sued Destin in federal court in November after the city turned down his request for a business license to provide nude dancing there.

Kisela said the court has ordered the two sides into mediation, which will take place probably during the second half of June.

“Normally, what mediation attempts to do is see if you can settle the issue prior to going to court,” Kisela said. “I’m not terribly optimistic.”

Until last year, city ordinances banned nude and topless dancing completely, and restricted adult entertainment to the city’s industrial zoning off Airport Road. That doesn’t comply with current case law – courts have ruled that nude dancing does have some degree of First Amendment protection – so the City Council approved a new law in January regulating strip clubs and other sexually oriented businesses such as adult book and video stores, and “sexual device shops.”

The law requires the owner and staff of such businesses to get city licenses; prohibits nudity; allows semi-nudity if performers are at least six feet from the customers; bans alcohol from the premises; and sets operating hours at 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.

The rationale is that strip clubs become a magnet for drugs, prostitution and theft, so government can impose restrictions to reduce such “secondary harm.”

In February, Stephenson’s attorney, Gary Edinger, filed an injunction against the new ordinance, charging that it violated the First Amendment and that the city’s legal advertising for the public hearings didn’t follow Florida law. Although city officials disagreed, they repeated the ordinance-approval process with new legal ads and revised definitions.

Even without the law, Mountain Drive’s zoning still wouldn’t allow Stephenson to open a strip club, although Stephenson’s lawsuit challenges that position, too. The American Legion and Safe Harbor Presbyterian Church have objected to allowing dancing in the industrial area, but a complete ban probably will not hold up in court.

In one court filing, attorneys for The Oasis said the club already has occasional nude dancing, which would be grounds for a Code Enforcement citation if the dancers were caught in the act.

Code Enforcement Director David Bazylak said that code officers and Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies have been visiting The Oasis several times a week, but “the times Code Enforcement has been in there, we have not seen them doing that.”

Kisela said that even though the city must meet with Stephenson and his attorneys, it won’t change its position: “We’ll listen (but) we’re still committed to the regulatory ordinance. We’re not deviating from that at all.”

Edinger said Stephenson’s position – that the denial of a business license unfairly infringes on his rights – has not changed, either. However, but that doesn’t mean the case couldn’t be resolved, he added.

“I’m always optimistic going into mediation,” Edinger said. “I’ve settled most of these cases.”