Judge Backs Bar’s Request for Entertainment Permit

The Corona City Council must allow exotic male dancing and female oil wrestling at a tavern on the city’s east side or appear in court next month to explain why it has denied the bar’s entertainment permit request, a Riverside County Superior Court judge ordered Monday.

The City Council, following a recommendation from Acting Police Chief Sam Lowery, voted on April 3 to deny the permit to Andrew Papac, owner of the Black Stallion restaurant and Bootleggers bar on Magnolia Street.

Lowery told the council that similar entertainment had caused “a considerable police problem” in other communities and would create a burden on Corona police that “the community cannot afford.”

Criticizes City Law

Papac’s attorney, Walter Ingalls of Riverside, argued that the City Council had no authority to withhold the permit because the proposed entertainment is not illegal. The city ordinance requiring a permit, Ingalls said, is vague and “patently unconstitutional,” violating First Amendment guarantees of free expression.

The council voted 4 to 1 to deny the permit, so Papac’s company, Corona-Magnolia Enterprises Inc., filed a petition last Friday asking the court to order the city to issue him a permit.

Judge J. David Hennigan on Monday gave the City Council an opportunity to reverse its action. If the council does not issue the entertainment permit, a court hearing is then scheduled for May 13, Ingalls said.

“I’m not surprised” that Papac went to court to try to reverse the council’s decision, said Councilman Gary Miller, who offered the motion that denied the entertainment permit, and Miller predicted Monday that the city will go to court to defend its action.

“I wouldn’t expect the City Council to change its mind,” Miller said. “. . . I think the City Council’s argument (is) that we are trying to follow the advice of our police chief and avoid a situation that would be a public nuisance.”

Anne Thomas, Corona city attorney, said she had not yet received the writ by late Monday afternoon but had been informed by Papac’s attorneys that it had been signed by Judge Hennigan and was to be delivered to her Monday.

“We will probably go back to the City Council with a recommendation at their next meeting,” Thomas said, “(but) I can’t predict what they will do.”

Seeks Attorneys’ Fees

Besides asking the court to order Corona to allow oil wrestling and exotic dancing at Bootleggers, Papac’s petition seeks reimbursement for attorney’s fees he has incurred in fighting the city.

Ingalls also claims that the City Council violated the Brown Act, California’s open-meeting law, by discussing the permit application in a brief closed session April 3.

Thomas denied that charge Monday, saying that she had advised the council to meet privately because its action would create for the city “a significant exposure to litigation,” which she said is an allowable reason to meet in closed session.