Centennial – Vowing not to let the city become the “red- light district” of the south metro area, Centennial leaders are crafting an ordinance to restrict how and where strip clubs and adult bookstores could operate.
Such enterprises would be limited to a roughly 10-block area. Without the ordinance, sexually oriented businesses could start up almost anywhere, City Attorney Robert Widner said.
“Current regulations … allowed for most of Centennial to be open to” sexually oriented businesses, he said.
If not for a moratorium, he said, “we could have gotten 100 or 200 of them in our town.”
Incoming adult businesses would be restricted to eight industrial sites between East Arapahoe Road and East Geddes Avenue, an area that includes several hotels and restaurants.
Strip clubs would face other limitations. Patrons would be required to stay 6 feet away from dancers, and tips would be put in a tip box, not a G-string.
“People need to understand that we’re not trying to open the door to these businesses,” Widner said. “We’re actually trying to keep the door closed to the greatest degree that we can in accordance to the Constitution.”
The City Council is expected to vote on the ordinances Aug. 15, after a public hearing hours before the year-old moratorium on such businesses expires. On Wednesday, the city set a Monday public meeting on the issue.
“I’m grateful in some ways that it’s the same First Amendment that allows my freedom of religion … that allows them to operate their adult business, but I have to admit I don’t want them here,” said Shannon Gish, 37.
Many residents understand that the city is in a difficult position, said Cathy Noon, president of Centennial Council of Neighborhoods, a watchdog for homeowners associations.
“The city has been seeing how far it can go with restrictions on the businesses without infringing on the First Amendment and avoiding a pricey court battle that it would probably lose,” said Noon, a candidate for Council Ward III.
Noon’s opponent in Ward III, Rebecca McClellan, said the city should do more to take input and keep residents informed.
McClellan fears the designated area, with its many hotels, will attract more sexually oriented businesses than it would otherwise.
Already, the city of about 103,000 may soon get its first adult business.
Spearmint Rhino, which touts itself as the world’s highest- grossing chain of gentlemen’s clubs, notified city leaders of plans to build a $6 million, 20,000-square-foot club in the proposed area.
In a July 14 letter, the company touted 300 high-paying jobs and $700,000 a year in sales taxes to the city.
Councilwoman Susan Nix said the city is balancing its residents’ desire to keep such businesses away with the desire to avoid a lawsuit.
“I think it’s the best possible place we can allow for it that would cause the least impact to residents,” Nix said.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1173 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
