MissEve
06-03-2003, 05:41 AM
http://adn.com/front/story/3228802p-3258843c.html
City loses records on adult-oriented businesses
Department asks massage parlors, escort services for help in replacing permits
By TATABOLINE BRANT
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: June 3, 2003)
There's a small problem in the city's Planning Department.
One of its divisions has lost some of its records.
Particularly, they're records that deal with adult entertainment-type businesses in Anchorage -- massage parlors, escort services, 18-and-older nonalcoholic strip clubs, adult bookstores and the like.
These establishments are typically required under city law to have a "premises where minors are not allowed" permit. The $250 permit, required since 1988, helps prevent the businesses from opening too close to a church, school, public park or residential area, among other things, so as to "reduce the influence of these enterprises on minors," according to municipal code.
The problem is, with the records missing, the city in many cases isn't sure which adult entertainment businesses in Anchorage have the permit and which ones don't.
The city's zoning code compliance division only recently learned that the records were missing, said Brian Dean, acting code enforcement manager. Nancy Fair, vice president of the Service High School Parent Teacher Student Association, brought it to their attention this spring, he said.
Fair recently asked city officials and Assembly members to increase the minimum age on 18-and-older strip clubs, such as Showboat Show Club and Fantasies on 5th Avenue, and to better regulate them. She and other people are concerned that high school students can legally work at or attend the clubs.
Dean said Fair called his office looking for information on the strip clubs, which sparked a larger review of the division's records on adult entertainment businesses.
"We started looking up all these locations, and we can't find files for them," he said.
The city can't say for certain, for example, whether Fantasies has the permit it needs to operate a premises where minors are not allowed, Dean said.
Carol Hartman, co-owner of Fantasies, said her business has had the permit for years.
Dean said that could well be so. "I was almost certain they had some sort of permit or approval, but I was not able to find one," he said.
Showboat owner Terry Stahlman said his club has "all the permits that the city requires for an adult-oriented nightclub" -- including the premises where minors are not allowed. Dean said the city has no record of his permit either.
Dean said he has no idea how many adult entertainment businesses in town might be operating without the permit. The city plans to send letters this week to 188 businesses that appear to fall under the adult entertainment umbrella, he said. Bars, restaurants and liquor stores are not included on the list because they get oversight from the Assembly and state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, he said.
The letter gives the businesses 30 days to acquire the permit if they are required to do so "or cease all activities for which the permit is required." Business owners who already have the permit are asked to send in a copy so the city can update its files. Dean said adult entertainment businesses that do not respond to the letter must be inspected. The permit should be posted, he said.
Dean said he is not sure what happened to the city's records on the businesses. He said his division was reorganized last summer and some of the files might have been lost in the move or purged accidentally.
City loses records on adult-oriented businesses
Department asks massage parlors, escort services for help in replacing permits
By TATABOLINE BRANT
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: June 3, 2003)
There's a small problem in the city's Planning Department.
One of its divisions has lost some of its records.
Particularly, they're records that deal with adult entertainment-type businesses in Anchorage -- massage parlors, escort services, 18-and-older nonalcoholic strip clubs, adult bookstores and the like.
These establishments are typically required under city law to have a "premises where minors are not allowed" permit. The $250 permit, required since 1988, helps prevent the businesses from opening too close to a church, school, public park or residential area, among other things, so as to "reduce the influence of these enterprises on minors," according to municipal code.
The problem is, with the records missing, the city in many cases isn't sure which adult entertainment businesses in Anchorage have the permit and which ones don't.
The city's zoning code compliance division only recently learned that the records were missing, said Brian Dean, acting code enforcement manager. Nancy Fair, vice president of the Service High School Parent Teacher Student Association, brought it to their attention this spring, he said.
Fair recently asked city officials and Assembly members to increase the minimum age on 18-and-older strip clubs, such as Showboat Show Club and Fantasies on 5th Avenue, and to better regulate them. She and other people are concerned that high school students can legally work at or attend the clubs.
Dean said Fair called his office looking for information on the strip clubs, which sparked a larger review of the division's records on adult entertainment businesses.
"We started looking up all these locations, and we can't find files for them," he said.
The city can't say for certain, for example, whether Fantasies has the permit it needs to operate a premises where minors are not allowed, Dean said.
Carol Hartman, co-owner of Fantasies, said her business has had the permit for years.
Dean said that could well be so. "I was almost certain they had some sort of permit or approval, but I was not able to find one," he said.
Showboat owner Terry Stahlman said his club has "all the permits that the city requires for an adult-oriented nightclub" -- including the premises where minors are not allowed. Dean said the city has no record of his permit either.
Dean said he has no idea how many adult entertainment businesses in town might be operating without the permit. The city plans to send letters this week to 188 businesses that appear to fall under the adult entertainment umbrella, he said. Bars, restaurants and liquor stores are not included on the list because they get oversight from the Assembly and state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, he said.
The letter gives the businesses 30 days to acquire the permit if they are required to do so "or cease all activities for which the permit is required." Business owners who already have the permit are asked to send in a copy so the city can update its files. Dean said adult entertainment businesses that do not respond to the letter must be inspected. The permit should be posted, he said.
Dean said he is not sure what happened to the city's records on the businesses. He said his division was reorganized last summer and some of the files might have been lost in the move or purged accidentally.