THE RIGHT TO OFFER NUDE DANCING'? Topless bar applicants sue city of Destin

November 25, 2008 - 1:46 PM

Dusty Ricketts
Florida Freedom Newspapers

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.

The odd crowd slip in for a bit of adult entertainment

The Times

November 26, 2008

Ann Treneman: Parliamentary Sketch

Don’t get me wrong but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Peter Stringfellow when he wasn’t wearing a thong. But that was in the papers, of course, not in the flesh (so to speak). It was still a bit of a shock to see Mr Stringfellow wearing a pinstripe suit when he came to Westminster yesterday. Still, all else about him was as expected: the grey-blond hair that crept over the collar, the tinted shades, the aura of loucheness that clung to him like a starlet on a sugar-daddy’s arm.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s session on lap dancing had attracted an odd crowd. There was Mr Stringfellow, a former dancer named Nadine Stravonia de Montagnac, and a beautiful woman who went by the name of Solitaire. She gave me her card that showed her, head thrown to one side, dark hair cascading, in a dress split to the thigh and beyond. Did she have a last name? “I just go by Solitaire,” she said sultrily with an enigmatic smile as if she were in a Bond movie or something.

First up was Nadine Stravonia de Montagnac (we never did get to the bottom of that name) and a woman from a group called Object who, not surprisingly, objected to just about everything. “We should call a spade a spade,” said Nadine, who had a permanent pout about her face. She’d been a dancer of eight years and thought the clubs should be classified as “sex encounter establishments” and licensed as such....read more

Destin to review 'adult entertainment' ordinances

November 17, 2008

Fraser Sherman

Now that Destin has received its first request in at least a decade to open a topless bar, the city must review the rules governing "adult entertainment," City Councilor Dewey Destin says.

“We probably need to review those to bring them up to snuff on what the current status of the law is," the councilor said at Monday's council meeting. The council endorsed the idea unanimously.

Rocky Griffith, who owns the Oasis in Destin/Thai Delights property on Mountain Drive, has applied for a business license to open a topless bar there. City officials say the zoning at that spot doesn't allow adult entertainment, though Griffith could request a zoning change.

Section 3-2 of Destin's ordinances, which governs adult entertainment, is 20 years old. It prohibits nudity in bars, night clubs and any business "which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises." The ban includes showing the female breast "below the top of the areola" and any exposure of genitals or buttocks.

City Manager Greg Kisela said the city would review the rules and report back.

For a play-by-play from Monday night's meeting, click here.