The Oasis of Destin has sued the city claiming that adult entertainment ordinances violate the bar's First Amendment rights.
The action was filed by the bar located on Mountain Drive and Trident-Operations LLC, a company that the Oasis has entered into a management agreement with to run the bar.
"The plaintiffs wish to engage in activities protected under the First Amendment, i.e., offering nude dance entertainment," the lawsuit says.
The city's rules governing such establishments "has deprived the plaintiffs of the right to offer nude-dance entertainment," the lawsuit further states. "For these reasons the plaintiffs are entitled to declaratory and permanent injunctive relief barring the City from enforcing these ordinances ..."
"We approached (the city), made a case for why the ordinances are not valid and then applied for a business license and were then promptly turned down," said Cary Wiggins, a former Niceville resident now practicing law at the Atlanta-based law firm of Cook, Youngelson & Wiggins. "There's really nothing left to do. If the ordinances aren't valid, there's really no sense in working with them."
Destin attorney Jerry Miller did not return messages seeking comment on the lawsuit.
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To read the entire lawsuit, click here.
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Mountain Drive topless bar seems DOA
The Oasis’ current management has applied to make it a topless bar, but the zoning on Mountain Drive won’t allow that.
November 11, 2008
Fraser Sherman
If there’s any place in Destin for a topless bar, Mountain Drive isn’t it, city staffers say.
The city has received an application to turn Oasis of Destin, a pool hall on Mountain, into a topless bar, Community Development Director Ken Gallander told The Log, but “it is not allowed in that zoning district.”
While the zoning rules could be changed, Destin City Council members don’t seem enthused by the concept.
“I don’t think it’s conducive to the vision of Destin,” Councilor Sandy Trammell told The Log Monday.
“I will second that comment,” Councilor Jim Wood said, “but I expect a lot of spirited debate.”
Wood added that these were general comments: If a zoning request came before the council, it would have to be judged on the merits of that specific proposal and location, and the council members couldn’t take a position on it in advance.
Gallander said that under the current zoning, the only place where a topless bar would be legal would be in “industrial” zoning, which is concentrated around Airport Road. He said Mountain Drive is “commercial trades and services” on the north side and “north harbor mixed use” on the south.
The Oasis was run until recently by Phil and Norma Calhoun, who left to open Calhoun’s Pub and Grub on the north side of Highway 98 near Pepito’s.
“We got a better deal, cheaper rent, more square footage,” Norma Calhoun said. “We have a restaurant and a bar, and we’re able to get a liquor license.”
Given the trouble she had trying to get a liquor license for the Oasis, Calhoun added, she doubted a topless bar would happen. She said the new lessee already runs several strip clubs in Georgia.
The property’s owner, Destin resident Rocky Griffith, said the application was his renter’s decision: “The whole building is leased, I didn’t put (anything) in the lease limiting what he’s doing.”
City Land Use Attorney Scott Shirley said that if someone applied to redevelop the property and the use conformed to Destin’s rules and zoning code, it would be approved without a council hearing. If they applied for a business license and got turned down, they could appeal to the Board of Adjustment; only if there was a request to change the zoning would the council need to make a decision.
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