Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Topless club gets approval for pool despite concerns from resorts, police

Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club received approval today to build a pool next door to the topless club. If it boosts business at the strip joint, as the owners intend, expect other Las Vegas strip clubs to follow suit. And perhaps hotels.

The possibility of both came up after Clark County commissioners approved the Sapphire pool.

The pool and club will share a liquor license but be separated by a wall. Construction will cost between $3.5 million and $4 million. Scheduled to open for business by May 2012, it will include two pools, a retail area, two bars, two hot tubs, a disc jockey booth, more than 20 open-door cabanas including those in a VIP area, and dozens of recliners.

Attorney Jay Brown, representing Sapphire, said the business would create about 100 jobs, “and I don’t mean adult jobs.”

None of the activities allowed in a strip club, such as lap dances, pole dancing and stripping, will be allowed in the pool area. It won’t even be allowed to have what some resorts on the Strip already have, topless pool areas. It would be open from about 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Even so, Metro Police and the Nevada Resort Association asked for a 30-day delay on the vote so they could give the plans more study.

Because of the likelihood that other strip clubs might get into the pool business, Resort Association lobbyist Jim Spinello advised a review of the county’s adult-use policy as a whole instead of simply looking at the Sapphire pool as a single business and single zoning issue.

Spinello added that “for obvious reasons,” the Resort Association is concerned.

“We have a situation where the adult overlay district is looking to expand the amenities available … that are similar to those only allowed now with the resorts and the resort corridor area,” Spinello said.

Several commissioners pointed out after the meeting that no regulations prohibit gentlemen’s clubs from operating pools or even hotels on their properties.

Asked if he had any interest in a boutique or other kind of hotel, Peter Feinstein, managing partner of Sapphire operator SHAC MT, said no.

“That’s not the business we’re in,” he added.

But might this blur lines enough that down the road resort/casinos decide they want to create space for strip clubs? Resorts, after all, already have topless pool areas and topless shows. Furthermore, a 2010 study by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority showed a troubling trend--tourists spent less money and time gambling in 2010 than in 2009. Casinos are looking at different ways of making money.

Now what if strip clubs offer food and entertainment -- Sapphire’s pool might host concerts, the way some Strip resorts host poolside concerts -- how much business might they take away from the resorts?

In addition, the state has no laws banning strip clubs in casinos. The state does, however, have the Gaming Control Board, which has come down hard on some casinos seen as crossing the line. In 2004, for instance, Gaming Control fined the Hard Rock hotel-casino $300,000 because of “questionable” advertising. One ad showed a man and woman at a gaming table with the caption, “There’s always a temptation to cheat.” Another ad read this way: "At the Hard Rock Hotel, we believe in your Monday night rights: large quantities of prescription stimulants (and) having wives in two states ... Tell your wives you are going; if they are hot, bring them along."

Gaming Control also has experience dealing with illegal drug use at casino clubs. In January, the Hard Rock Hotel paid a $650,000 settlement, including a $500,000 fine, after undercover officers detailed security officers making rooms available for sex and drug use. This came after repeated warnings to all gaming licensees about nightclub problems including date rape, prostitution, drug distribution and use and a host of other issues.

Addressing the commission, Spinello also talked about the possible need for “additional regulatory resources” for the strip club with a swimming pool next door.

Commissioners were unmoved. Commissioner Lawrence Weekly asked if the place would be hiring lifeguards. Tom Collins cracked “is this a dance hall or a swimming pool?” in response to Steve Sisolak’s lengthy questions about what kinds of activities would be allowed.

In all, the matter took up about 15 minutes before commissioners approved it by unanimous vote.

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