Court Ban Sought on Nude Dancing at Club

The city of Los Angeles will ask a judge today to ban nude dancing at the Extasy club, which generated a storm of neighborhood criticism when it opened in Northridge last week.

The city attorney’s office, acting on a request from the City Council last week, said a Los Angeles Superior Court judge would be asked to issue a temporary cease-and-desist order until a dispute over the club’s zoning is settled.

“The zoning does not provide for striptease dancing,” said Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.

“We’re not asking them to shut down,” Goldstein said. “We are asking them to stop the entertainment that is not affixed to the zoning.”

Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety inspectors also cited the owners of the nude dancing club when it opened Jan. 16. The inspectors said it was operating illegally, but the Extasy has remained open since and its owners vowed to fight any closure attempts.

That issue is scheduled to be heard in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Feb. 19.

“When it’s time for us to come to court, we will. We have the documents to do what we’re doing,” Extasy spokesman Steve Gamer said. “We’re totally legal. We’ll be vindicated.”

The site at Corbin Avenue and Nordhoff Street, formerly known as the Breakers Seafood Restaurant, has been the focus of a dispute since July, when Extasy’s owners, a company called Seven for the Money Inc., applied for a permit to open a juice bar with nude dancers.

The proposal quickly generated opposition from neighbors, local businesses and Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area.

Before citing the owners last week, inspectors warned them that they could not legally operate without the permit and would be cited if they went through with the announced opening.

A nude dancing club can operate legally on the site only with a variance from the Office of Zoning Administration, part of the Department of City Planning, the inspectors said.

The conditional use permit that allowed the Breakers restaurant to open explicitly banned nude dancing on the site, they said.

However, Gamer maintains that only “stripping as part of a dance performance is banned.” Since Extasy dancers do not strip during the dances, the club’s activities are legally within the zoning permit, he said.

“We have to see what they say in court, but I don’t know how they can shut us down,” he said. Because the club is in an “industrial zone,” it needs no additional permit from the city, he contended.

Goldstein disagreed. “They are not in compliance. Nude dancing is a form of striptease dancing,” he said.

“It’s time for a showdown at the OK Corral,” Gamer replied. “I hope the city has their ammunition.”