OAKLAND PARK — The city has waged war against nudity in the past.
It spent thousands of dollars trying to shut down the Backstage Lounge, an adult club known for its expensive sparkling cider and amorous nude dancers. The club voluntarily closed in 1985.
But with a new adult nightclub preparing to open soon, the city has lost this anti-nudity battle before it even began.
Despite a city law prohibiting nude entertainment within 1,000 feet of a church, an adult nightclub will open this month without any city opposition — even though the club is less than 760 feet from two churches.
Oakland Park’s hands are tied because of an out-of-court settlement it reached in 1987 after Playpen owner Art Stock sued the city for trying to stop the Chippendales, a troupe of male dancers, from performing at his club.
In settling, the city agreed to exempt the Playpen building at 3411 N. Federal Highway because it featured semi-nude entertainment in the form of wet T-shirt contests in 1974, three years before the city’s anti-nudity law was adopted.
The agreement was reached after a federal judge ruled the city had no grounds to prevent the Chippendales from stripping down to their jockstraps.
The new club planning to open at the Playpen site is Pure Platinum, an offshoot of Solid Gold, an adult nightclub on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale where dancers wear nothing but garters stuffed with $1 bills.
“I hear it’s going to be a sequel to Solid Gold,” said City Manager J. Scott Miller. “We don’t want them to come in. We don’t need these adult entertainment establishments.”
Miller said, however, that as long as Pure Platinum “stays within the confines of that (Playpen) building, it’s my understanding the city can’t do anything.”
Remarked City Council member H. Keneth Powell, “It’s not surprising to me somebody picked up on” the grandfather exemption).
Francis K. Buckley, a Fort Lauderdale attorney and part owner of the Playpen property, said he still leases the building to Playpen South Inc.
City officials speculate that Solid Gold is expanding into Oakland Park because it faces the possibility of losing its four-year legal challenge to Fort Lauderdale’s 1984 anti-nudity ordinance.
Solid Gold won an initial victory against Fort Lauderdale when a federal judge struck down the ordinance in 1985, but the city appealed and won in 1987.
The Solid Gold case is now back in state court, and a ruling is expected this summer, said Fort Lauderdale Assistant City Attorney Lindsey Payne.
Fort Lauderdale’s ordinance prohibits nightclubs that serve alcohol from offering nude entertainment within 750 feet of a church, school, playground or residential area.
Solid Gold is owned by Michael Peter, a businessman who presides over an empire of adult nightclubs throughout the state, including Thee Doll House III in Pompano Beach.
Peter has claimed that Solid Gold, his flagship club, grosses more than $2 million annually. He could not be reached for comment.
But Mayor Caryl Stevens had plenty to say. “I’m not very thrilled about it,” she said.
