A strip club approved in Northeast D.C. is scheduled to go before the District’s Board of Zoning Adjustment Tuesday as part of a community association’s efforts to “stop the District from creating a red light district” in Ward 5.
The strip club’s co-owner, Keith Forney, reportedly has ties with Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., who represents the area.
The Ward 5 Improvement Association is fighting the zoning approval the Stadium Club was granted last year, saying the zoning board should not have granted the club zoning as a “non-sexually oriented business.” The hearing has been delayed several times by the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
In its appeal, the association said the board has found that “sexual stimulation or arousal” does not have to involve actual touching or direct physical stimulation, but is based on whether “the positions assumed by the women and the manner in which the women display … themselves are clearly designed to stimulate or arouse patrons of the establishment.”
The appeal goes on to say that “at Stadium, both ‘fondling’ and ‘sexual stimulation or arousal’ take place.”
The association has been involved in attempts to block the relocation of three strip clubs to the area near New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road Northeast. In February, Thomas met with Police Chief Cathy Lanier and several club owners to address community concerns like crowds, safety and alcohol management.
