Toledo council drops door ban to settle suit
9/15/2010Toledo City Council members this week unanimously voted to drop the city's ban on doors for private-movie booths in adult bookstores and the so-called “six-foot rule” for dancers at strip clubs. The votes settle a seven-year-old lawsuit and let the city avoid paying up to $600,000 in legal fees.
The Bell administration had asked council last week to weigh agreements to drop two lawsuits filed against the city in response to tough laws on sexually oriented businesses passed in 2003. In place of those laws, the city would enact a law allowing doors for private movie booths so long as they are at least 16 inches from the floor. At strip clubs, the city would enact a law that mirrors state law banning a nude or seminude performer from touching an audience member.
The stage still must be 18 inches off the floor with a three-foot-high barrier between patron and performer.