Saturday, January 25, 2014
ROGERS — Some residents are concerned about plans to open a Twin Peaks restaurant, where the female wait staff dress along the lines of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
An online petition started by Moms of NorthWest Arkansas collected more than 200 signatures as of Friday. Many of those commenting were critical of the restaurant.
At A Glance
Sexually Oriented Businesses
Sec. 14-717 of the City Code regulates sexually oriented businesses. It addresses cabarets or restaurants with entertainment, but doesn’t address restaurants such as Twin Peaks where women servers wear shorts and tops. The ordinance also defines nudity. “Nudity or state of nudity means: The appearance of the bare human buttocks, anus, male genitals, female genitals, or female breast. A state of dress which fails to opaquely cover a human buttock, anus, male genitals, female genitals, or aureole of the female breast.”
Source: City Of Rogers
Webwatch
Online Petition
To see the petition, go to www.change.org/petitions/greg-hines-do-not-allow-twin-peaks-in-rogers.
A search of the Internet didn’t reveal an organization named Moms of NorthWest Arkansas so it couldn't be determined who started the petition on Change.org. The website makes it easy for anyone to start an online petition on any topic.
The petition is directed to Mayor Greg Hines asking him to stop the restaurant from opening.
“I know there is a petition, but it hasn’t been presented to the city,” Hines said Friday. “There is nothing in the city ordinance code that allows us to stop a restaurant from opening in highway commercial zoning.”
“I wish people who are upset with something in the city would come and see me first to get the facts, rather than forming a group and starting a petition, but I guess that’s the world we live in now,” Hines said.
The petition states Twin Peaks is “little more than a strip club, tricking young men and boys into buying into the notion that women are simply here for their pleasure.”
Section 14-717 of the City Code addresses sexually oriented businesses, but not restaurants such as Twin Peaks, according to the city attorney’s staff.
The petition gives those signing the document an opportunity to state why they oppose Twin Peaks. Attempts to contact those commenting via email, telephone and a message placed on the petition site weren't successful.
Some of those signing expressed concern about the treatment of the female wait staff and the message it sends to young people.
A Rogers woman wrote: “I would like my 14 yr old daughter to have more respect for her beautiful body than to flaunt it to make a buck, and I would not like my 11 yr old son to think this is the type of girl he should look for.”
Another Rogers woman wrote: “I have been living in Rogers for almost 14 years now and have enjoyed every minute of it. I have felt like it is a very safe and family friendly town, but I see it changing. I think we are on a slippery downward slope and welcoming a Twin Peaks into our town will only make the slope steeper.”
Several women wrote that the restaurant exploits women. One woman wrote that such an establishment will “… promote deviant behavior. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.”
Not everyone expressed a negative opinion.
“The shorts they wear can be bought at Hollister, Abercrombie or any other store and I’m sure your daughters wear these shorts. Young ladies and women wear considerably less at pools, lakes and rivers in the area. I’ve been to a Twin Peaks one time with my husband and felt that it was a nice restaurant and the food was surprisingly good. If you don’t like a place, don’t go there, but to sit at home and throw out such hate speech is just wrong,” a Springdale women wrote.
Names of those commenting weren't used because they couldn't be confirmed as real.
David Faulkner, chief operating officer of Pinnacle Hills Promenade, declined to comment on the petition or the restaurant, referring calls to General Growth Properties, which operates the shopping center.
David Keating, vice president of corporate communications for General Growth, refused comment.
“I heard there was a petition, but I haven’t seen it,” said John George, spokesman for Hunt Ventures that developed Pinnacle Hills Promenade and owns land around the shopping center. He said Hunt Ventures hadn't be contacted by anyone regarding the petition or the opening of the restaurant.
Most of the Twin Peaks restaurants are franchised through Front Burner Restaurants. No response was received to a phone call and an email by 5 p.m. Friday.
The development plan for the 9,000-square-foot restaurant to seat 90 people was approved by planning commissioners Nov. 5. No grading permit has been issued for the property, the first step in construction, a planning official said Friday.