Catonsville residents are lobbying officials to change county codes that permit sex in business establishments, saying an erotic club in their neighborhood threatens property values and children?s safety.
Residents have taken issue with the Tabu Social Club on Rolling Road, a members-only lifestyle club that features adult slumber and “Freakness” parties on its Web site. The site says the club forbids on-site sexual activity, but recently promoted basement “VIP bedrooms.”
“You never know with this type of sexually deviant behavior what you?re going to get in your neighborhood,” said Steve Whisler, president of the Westview Park Improvement and Civic Association, who is spearheading the opposition.
Whisler filed a formal complaint with the county, which said the business is fully compliant with codes. Baltimore County regulates sexual activity in massage parlors and other adult entertainment venues, but does not mention swingers clubs.
Council Member Samuel Moxley, D-District 1, said he?s working with County Executive Jim Smith and other lawmakers to consider new legislation, but said he?s received several e-mails and phone calls supporting the club. Located discreetly behind a Chinese food restaurant, the club is only identifiable by a “T” on a front awning.
Several calls to the club?s manager, Rick Gonzalez, were not returned Monday. The property is listed under Duke Realty LLC, which has the same Owings Mills address as Bare Feet Enterprises. There is a Bare Feet Shoes store next to the club.
Gonzalez sent Whisler aletter earlier this month, accusing him of libeling the club, which opened last year. He wrote that many of Tabu?s clients are prominent community members and said the club regularly sponsors charity fundraisers.
“We pay our taxes and go to painstaking lengths to leave the community in better condition than we found it,” Gonzalez wrote.
But residents said they are worried the club and its clients could take a toll on property values. Single-family homes in the area sell for as much as $375,000 and town houses cost about $200,000, said James Dickey, a Catonsville-based appraiser. He said those figures are higher than in years past as professionals “discover” the town?s accessibility.
