Strip-club plan hits hurdle; Little Rock set to notify owner about zoning, setback requirements

Little Rock officials are aiming to stop the opening of a strip club at Arch Street and Dixon Road that is opposed by neighbors, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and several politicians.

The owner of Skyroom Gentleman's Club successfully fought the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in court to get a private-club permit and has dismissed a petition from residents objecting to the club's location and moved construction materials to the site.

It's unclear whether building of the 8,500-square-foot structure is underway, but the city is working on a letter to inform the owner that any progress will be at the builder's risk because a site plan has not been presented to officials.

The city also said owner Billy Pope of Bryant will be in violation of its ordinance that restricts how close sexually oriented businesses can be to neighborhoods, schools, churches, parks, hospitals or historic buildings if he opens the strip club at 4634 W. Dixon Road.

Sexually oriented businesses must be at least 750 feet from those areas, the city's 1989 ordinance states. Another ordinance also requires private clubs to be more than 750 feet from neighborhoods, schools, churches or day cares.

It's estimated that the 2-acre site of Pope's strip club is about 300 feet from the England Acres subdivision.

The club is not in the city limits, but it is within Little Rock's extraterritorial jurisdiction, meaning the city has control over zoning in the area.

"We are going to notify them that in order to develop that property they need to go through the process of submitting a site plan for us to review. We're telling them to develop at their own risk," Little Rock Planning Director Jamie Collins said.

City Attorney Tom Carpenter said Wednesday that the letter notifying Pope that the location doesn't meet the special setback requirements had been drafted but not yet sent. He planned for it to be sent later Wednesday or this morning, he said.

Messages left Wednesday with Pope and with his attorney were not returned.

Little Rock's ordinance says that if anyone is in continuous violation of the setback requirements for sexually oriented businesses, he can be fined up to $250 per day, be subject to a lawsuit for a court-ordered injunction and subject to prosecution for criminal violations.

County Judge Barry Hyde wrote letters to members of the Little Rock Board of Directors last week detailing his opposition to the strip club.

"The residents of Pulaski County's England Acres subdivision are immediately adjacent to said site. It is unacceptable to me for the city to eliminate or change the zoning at the said location as the residents have come to rely on the zoning for protection from such an intrusive and incompatible land use," Hyde wrote.

He was referring to inquiries to the city about eliminating the commercial zoning of the property. A private club is permissible under commercial zoning with the appropriate state alcohol permit. However, private clubs and strip clubs have the 750-feet setback requirement that the site of Skyroom Gentleman's Club does not meet, Carpenter said.

Collins said that since the location is outside the city limits, the county would be in charge of issuing a building permit, and the county sheriff's office handles patrols in the area. The city, however, controls the zoning.

Last year, Pope applied with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division to transfer his private-club permit for Club Hollywood at 4726 Asher Ave. in Little Rock to the Dixon Road location to operate Skyroom. The permits are limited in Arkansas. They allow businesses to sell liquor until 5 a.m.

Club Hollywood no longer operates, and its address is now occupied by Club 428, which is not involved with Pope's businesses, its owner said in a phone call Wednesday.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control director at the time denied Pope's request to transfer the license to the new club. Pope then appealed to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

At his hearing before the board, Pope testified that an alcoholic beverage license hadn't been issued for a gentleman's club in Pulaski County in several years and that there is a demand for such an establishment if it is run correctly.

"Mr. Pope testified having a good management team is important, and he has put together a good team. He testified there is more to running a gentleman's club than just having girls around," according to an Alcoholic Beverage Control summary of the meeting.

Pope told the board that he had previously worked for the owners of Visions Cabaret, Sensations Gentlemen's Club and Illusions, and that he "has dealings" with the Paper Moon strip club.

He told them he planned for Skyroom Gentleman's Club to be a metal building with stone and stucco veneer with space for 150 to 200 cars. He plans to operate it from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week and serve food, including lunch. The upstairs portion will be a VIP area that will overlook the downstairs, and there will be no individual rooms. Will McFadden of Benton is the engineer.

Pope also said the parking lot would have extreme lighting to discourage loitering and that he would employ 12 people and one security guard for every 30 customers.

An Alcoholic Beverage Control employee told the board that the proposed location was close to the England Acres subdivision and that it would create a negative impact. Another agent noted that Pope failed to disclose on his application that there would be nude or near-nude dancing.

In December 2016 the board denied Pope's request. He sued in Pulaski County Circuit Court and Judge Mackie Pierce found that Alcoholic Beverage Control's decision was "arbitrary and capricious and characterized by an abuse of discretion."

In a May 2017 order, the judge reversed the Alcoholic Beverage Control decision and instructed the agency to grant a permit to Skyroom Gentleman's Club.

Metro on 12/14/2017

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