The ban on new strip clubs in Northeast Washington was extended by about seven more months on Tuesday, a victory for residents who fear their Ward 5 neighborhood will be home to an unwanted red light district.
But the sponsor of the temporary ban said residents “still have another fight ahead” in getting permanent legislation passed. The permanent ban was introduced by Orange in September and is sitting in the Committee on Human Services.
“I am looking to [Committee Chairwoman] Yvette Alexander to get moving — the council member continues to tell me she supports the legislation,” Orange said Tuesday.
An emergency or immediate moratorium was placed on new strip clubs last month in Ward 5, which has also been targeted as a home by would-be medical marijuana growers. The temporary ban extends that moratorium
by 225 days after mayoral approval and allows more time for the permanent bill to make its way through the council.
A staff member from Alexander’s office said Orange did not indicate the urgency regarding the initial bill and that they expect to schedule a hearing on the bill within the next two months.
The ban was prompted by an uproar from residents after two strip clubs won a license last year to open in Ward 5 near a cluster of nightclubs and one other strip club near Queens Chapel and Bladensburg roads. In addition, three other strip clubs that were displaced after Nationals Park was built began eyeing the area for development.
The area is not zoned for “sexually oriented businesses” but the zoning board approved the Stadium Club last year under the reasoning that pole dancing is also a form of physical fitness, opening the door for other adult entertainment businesses to move in.
Since then, one strip club has closed but the area is still home to four strip club licenses,
five approved medical marijuana growing centers and one marijuana distributor. The approvals caused residents to protest and accuse officials of using Ward 5 as the dumping ground for the city’s more unseemly businesses.
