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Downtown club sues city, wants strippers back

A downtown bar is suing the City of Minot in federal court for the right to operate as a strip club.

Envy Gentlemen’s Club had been forced to stop offering entertainment dancing in 2011 as a result of a new city ordinance restricting where such clubs can operate. It is suing for damages as well as asking to be grandfathered into its current location so it can once again have the dancers.

The city is asking for the case to be dismissed. A pretrial conference by telephone is scheduled for July 20.

Minot approved an ordinance on July 7, 2008, that restricts strip clubs to heavy industrial areas and to at least 1,250 feet, or about three blocks, from churches, schools, child-care facilities, hospitals, parks, playgrounds or other adult entertainment centers. The distance restrictions prohibits location in a downtown industrial area.

The ordinance gave Minot’s two strip clubs three years to come into compliance. Envy had obtained a temporary injunction from district court in June 2011 but that order was vacated in September 2011. Envy states it has operated as a lounge, without entertainment dancing, since then.

Envy’s complaint states the club has been unable to find another location that would meet the zoning ordinance. It contends the city was aware of the unavailability of any suitable locations at the time the zoning ordinance was passed.

“In effect, the City of Minot knew it was zoning Envy’s operation out at the time of its original passage of the zoning ordinance and at all times since,” the complaint states. “This knowledge by the City included knowledge of the very few remote locations left by the setbacks and the knowledge of the exorbitant and unaffordable costs of such locations.”

Envy contends the zoning removal of entertainment dancing without any specific morality or law enforcement rationale denied the right of free expression under the First Amendment. It also contends the zoning ordinance restriction creates an illegal “taking.”

Since September 2011, Envy has incurred major damages that include loss of revenue and devaluation of property, according to the complaint. No specific damages were requested in the complaint, filed last May.

In its response, the city identifies the downtown operation as EBP, which holds a North Dakota trade name as Envy Gentlemen’s Club, although the city denies it operates under that name. Rather, the city states the business operates as Roosters Nightclub.

The city denies it used the zoning ordinance to ban EBP’s business. It also claims EBP has ability to pursue its constitutional challenges in state district court and should do so there. However, the city argues EBP lacks standing to pursue a case at all because it currently does not hold a license to operate a sexually oriented business, as required in city ordinance, and also is barred by the statute of limitations.

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