All-nude club opens for business

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- After taking on the city to allow its employees to

take off their clothes, Surf City’s first all-nude, nonalcoholic exotic

club opened its doors last week to a slew of eager customers. Although

there were no lines at the Flamingo Adult Theater, the club’s owner said

nearly 600 people were in attendance over the weekend.

Despite the lack of advertising, patrons flocked to the club to enjoy

live adult entertainment. From the outside, the business is inconspicuous

with its cream-colored walls and light blue awnings. The club is at

18121, Beach Blvd., the site of a former French restaurant.

Within the confines, however, lies an atmosphere of eroticism, where

customers are entertained by exotic dancers who perform stripteases on an

elevated platform located six feet away from a surrounding bar. Patrons

are not allowed to touch dancers on stage, but they may pay $10 for a

personal dance on a couch from a fully clothed dancer.

“We were busy because everybody wants to know what it is [all about],”

said Harry Tatarian, president of Talbert and Beach Inc. “We are getting

higher-end customers.”

But opening the business has not been easy for Talbert and Beach Inc.,

the club’s owners. The company has drawn sharp criticism from other

businesses as well as the City Council during the process.

Last month, the City Council voted unanimously to approve a first

reading of an ordinance banning nudity in all public places, including

bars and restaurants. In response, the club’s owners are circulating a

petition urging Surf City residents’ support of their business.

Talbert and Beach has hired people to walk around Huntington Beach

gathering signatures.

The petition was originally presented to the City Council on July 5

with several hundredsignatures, said Randy Garrou, the club’s lawyer. The

company would not say how many additional people have signed the

petition, but confirmed that it will present the signatures to the

council at its next meeting.

Council members and some neighbors are concerned about the club’s

impact on the city.

“I don’t think [the club] is appropriate in Huntington Beach because

we are a community of families and churches,” said Councilman Peter

Green. “I personally will do all I can within the law to see that it

doesn’t stay open very long. I urge citizens to speak out.”

Although disappointed that the club opened, Councilman Tom Harman

said, “unfortunately” this type of business is protected by the 1st

Amendment.

“Reportedly, these types of businesses attract prostitution and

drugs,” he said. “I am concerned it might happen in this case.”Barbara

Shipnuck, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente Orange County, said the

company will closely monitor the club to make sure it’s business does not

have a negative effect on Kaiser’s patients and employees. Kaiser’s

medical clinic in Huntington Beach is located next to the club.

“We are going to watch and see, and hopefully it will not be necessary

for us to interact with the authorities for any concerns,” she said. “We

[are] concerned that none of the [club’s] cliental create an adverse

impression on children coming for medical services.”

But the company says their business would not have existed without

public demand. Sales on opening day was better than expected, said Max

Ahmadi, a spokesman for Talbert and Beach Inc. “Our business goes back to

Adam and Eve; it has survived humanity, and it will survive the city of

Huntington Beach,” he said. “We are just being penalized for providing

what people want.”

Aside from a woman picketing outside the club for several hours last

week, opening weekend went off without a glitch, Ahmadi said.

He said the business would not create any negative impacts to

neighbors because it is clean, well-run and nonalcoholic.

On Friday, club patrons agreed with Ahmadi.

Westminster resident Aury Holtzman said he thinks bars, not the

Flamingo Adult Theater, are bad for the city because they serve alcohol,

which creates more drunks on the streets.

A Huntington Beach resident, identified only as Rosie, said she had a

good experience at the club and that its ambience was nice.

A final decision on the club’s fate is expected Monday, during which

the City Council will take another vote on the anti-nudity ordinance.

If the ordinance is approved, the club will seek a liquor license and

litigation against the city, Garrou said.

That could create more problems, said Mayor Dave Garofalo, who is

concerned about the club serving alcohol.

“I still believe that nude without alcohol is better than semi-nude

with [alcohol],” he said.