TWO NUDE DANCING ARCADES SHUT DOWN
Section: THE REGION, November 18, 1999
Page: B3
Author: Tom Sowa Staff writer
The operator of two Spokane nude-dancing and
X-rated video arcades closed down both businesses after pleading guilty this
week to violating city adult-entertainment laws.
Robert Wolf, owner of Book
City, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Spokane Municipal Court to four misdemeanor
violations of Spokane's arcade regulations.
Wolf, a Montana resident, closed down the arcades that operate in his two businesses,
Book City and East Sprague Adult Bookstore. The two businesses are side-by-side
on the 2000 block of East Sprague.
The two businesses had about
45 small seating booths where patrons watched videos or live dancers, Deputy
Prosecutor Patti Walker said.
``As part of the plea
agreement, Wolf agreed to discontinue the arcade portions of those
businesses,'' Walker said Wednesday.
Wolf can still sell videos,
merchandise and books inside the two businesses, Walker said.
He agreed to pay a total of
$1,750 in fines for the violations, which resulted from two visits this fall to
the arcades by city regulatory officers, Walker said.
Wolf would have had to
remodel both arcades in order to continue allowing nude dancing or videos,
Walker said.
Wolf's Spokane attorney,
Jeffrey Finer, could not be reached for comment.
The four violations that Wolf
pleaded guilty to include inadequate lighting, allowing locks on video booth
doors, failing to have an employee on duty at all times to monitor the booths,
and failing to ensure that a person standing inside the main room would be able
to see inside every viewing booth.
The closures leave only two
other X-rated video arcades operating in the city, Walker said. Those are World
Wide Video at 1811 E. First and Spokane Arcade, 1125 W. First.
Similar code citations have
been filed against the owners of those businesses, Walker said. Pretrial
hearings on those charges are set for December.
With the closing of nude
dancing at Book City, only the Deja Vue Night Club, 8211 E. Sprague, offers
that type of entertainment in Spokane County.
The city's restrictions on
adult entertainment were adopted in 1993. It wasn't until 1998 that state
courts upheld the city's authority to restrict those businesses, Walker said.
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