If you’ve ever wanted to visit a male strip club but never got around to it, this weekend is your last chance in North Miami Beach to do so. Unfortunately for the ladies, this strip club is for gay men, but you are welcome if you are accompanied by a male escort. Otherwise, you might not be able to control yourselves.
Um, yeah. Moving right along.
I got a tip this morning that NMB’s only male strip club (gay or otherwise), Swinging Richards, is closing up shop in our city and relocating to Pompano Beach. Strangely, no one at City Hall was aware of this news. Maybe they should have gone to the Swinging Richards website for details.
Clearly, Swinging Richards has not kept it a big secret since it’s right there on its home page:
That seems pretty clear to me.
Swinging Richards first made headlines in North Miami Beach back in November of 2011, when it set up shop and advertised itself as the first all nude gay male strip club in our city. It was controversial from the get go, starting with its risque name.
Luckily, everyone but die hard homophobes eventually got over it, and things were quiet for a while until the following spring when North Miami Beach decided to enforce an obscure 1989 ordinance which prohibited alcohol from being served where there is naked dancing. Swinging Richards then sued the city for discrimination, claiming it was an anti-gay thing. While I don’t believe this is the case, the notoriety made for some good headlines. And a pretty humorous blog, if I do say so myself. As ridiculous as the Ordinance was, attempting to enforce it was even trickier considering the fact that it had already been ignored for decades.
The brouhaha came to a head during The Great Titty Bar Debate, and eventually the council voted to amend the Ordinance, and passed ORDINANCE NO. 2012-18.
The new Ordinance pretty much repealed the original one in its entirety except for one provision that prohibited any and all sexual physical contact. Oh, darn! But all the other ridiculous provisions regarding what constitutes nudity (including explicit descriptions of body parts) were removed.
Swinging Richards and the other two strip clubs were all able to continue business as usual, serving alcohol and dancing naked.
And now, after all that nonsense, Swinging Richards is headed for greener pastures, i.e., Broward County.
Yes, folks. Everything really is better in Broward (even fast food, so says my son who settled in Davie). So, I’m not surprised.
Interestingly, however, the new Ordinance added a provision that naked dancing and alcohol cannot mix “unless the premises has a valid City adult entertainment license.” This is key because 180 days from the day Swinging Richards closes its doors its “adult entertainment license” will expire unless the owners can find another strip club to take its place. From what I’m told, this license and the State issued liquor license are valuable commodities in the world of adult entertainment. Once they expire, it can be extremely difficult to obtain new ones.
The new Ordinance allowed Swinging Richards and the other two North Miami Beach strip clubs to be “grandfathered in” to be able to serve alcohol with naked dancing. Any new applicants for an adult entertainment establishment will necessarily be required to adhere to the old rule, and they have to choose between booze and titties. Or, obviously, other body parts. Therefore, if the owners are looking for a new adult entertainment business to replace Swinging Richards, it is imperative for one to open within the next 180 days in order for it to maintain its “valid City adult entertainment license.” Without that license, their asking price would drop considerably.
I’ve also been told that yesterday the owners submitted an application to renew their license now even though it doesn’t expire until September 30, 2013. While the license may be renewed pending a review and inspection, they still have a problem. Their current license includes extended hours from 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., but a renewed license will force them to close at 4:00 a.m. Council approval must be obtained in order for any of the strip clubs to remain open until 6:00 a.m.
Here’s the thing. Even though Swinging Richards advertised it’s relocation on its website, it was news to the peeps at City Hall. It sure seems to me that it’s in the best interest of the owners to try to keep this move under the radar long enough to renew their license before Swinging Richards relocated. Once they close their doors, the 180-day clock starts ticking.
Now that the council is aware that Swinging Richards will no longer be operating in NMB, I’m guessing they might not be so generous in granting the owners the extended hours. At least they shouldn’t be. Most residents would like nothing more than to get rid of all our strip clubs in order to improve our “family friendly” image. (Like I mentioned in an earlier blog, Image is Everything!) It certainly does not behoove the council to make it easier on the owners of this establishment to remain in business. While the council cannot legally force an adult entertainment establishment out of business, it certainly can and should make sure the owners comply with city Ordinances if they want to keep their licenses.
I hope the Mayor and Council are paying attention.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Question 1: Did the city have to give the 2 to 4 AM licence or could they have said no when the owners came in yesterday? I understand staff most likely wouldn’t have a reason to say no if there has been no issues with the night club during those hours. If the city knew that the club was closing would they have had reason to not issue that licence? Not knowing what club will come in next, perhaps 2 AM should have been the cut off until the city is satisfied with a new establishments conduct.
Question 2: If I’m not mistaken, former Mayor Marin had issues with the owners of the club holding on to their licence longer than what was the 180 days or 360 day established grandfather status when they closed many years ago. The club pretended to be open and occupied when it wasn’t. The city, at that time, quite frankly wasn’t doing their due diligence by watching the club or the clock. They got to keep their licence and continue their grandfather status, when in essence they should have been shut down. NMB, beware, we don’t want this happening again. Staff needs to watch over this club and allow the newest ordinance work so that if a real business isn’t occupying this location, after 180 days we will have one less strip club to deal with.
Answer 1: The city does not have to issue a 2 to 4 am extension, but the City Manager is authorized to grant it without council approval. The council has to vote to approve a 4 to 6 am extension. The city was not aware yesterday that Swinging Richards was closing when they submitted their application. They are now, however, I do not think the closing affects the license application, since the license is given to the owners of the property and not to the business. It’s still up to the owners to find another operator of an adult entertainment establishment to open within the 180 days in order for their license to remain current.
Answer 2: I am aware of that issue and I was advised to contact Mayor Marin for details. I’m on it as we speak.
I would be in complete agreement with you that in order to improve (or achieve) a family-friendly image we should get rid of strip joints, if we were pursuing this goal from all angles; but we’re not. Our ever-increasing level of gang activity is enough to scare away any family considering moving here, and some already living here. It is so easy to point the finger at things others are doing, but we never seem to take the initiative to do anything right ourselves. When even the strip joints are running for the hills, you know we have truly hit bottom; we are now neither family, nor business friendly.
Sorry for laughing, but you are absolutely right about everything. Here the collective “we” is worrying about serving alcohol in the presence of naked dancers, while our streets are being taken over by gun wielding thugs who refuse to wear belts. I can’t for the life of me figure out how they can shoot while their pants are falling down. That’s a pretty amazing trick if you ask me.
Gangs are a serious problem, but how many people moving into North Miami Beach know they exist? Unless a buyer is asking their Realtor that question or goes to the city for more information on the community, how will they know? Most buyers don’t go to a Police Department to find out about the city they are considering moving to. You would think we lived in Detroit. There is an understanding or perhaps a rumor that the Street Gang Unit will once again be in action in North Miami Beach. While the strip clubs don’t bother me, one less will be an improvement. Eventually North Miami Beach will get the “image” you want, meanwhile I have no problem residing in NMB and have had not one issue since I moved here.
I dont know where you live, but the last shooting was within earshot of my house, and a family on my block is moving out just over that last shooting. All of this started about one year ago, before that, I had never had one issue either. While we are no Detroit (yet), I’m sure Detroit’s problems started one shooting at a time, and before they knew it, there was no turning back. We seem to be on the same train as Miami Gardens, just a couple of cars behind them, and we will soon arrive at the same station. When we are in the news every other day, potential buyers don’t need to do much research; perhaps “image” is not the right word, so let’s call it reputation.