Bear Cabaret Owner Sues Over Limits on Adult Entertainment

Madeline DiTrapani’s running battle with the City of Agoura Hills moved into federal court Wednesday when she filed a lawsuit accusing city officials of conspiring to violate her civil rights by keeping her from featuring topless dancers at the Bear Cabaret.

The suit filed Wednesday asks the court to overturn city actions that banned adult entertainment at the highly visible establishment along the Ventura Freeway, which has gone through a series of transformations.

The club at times has featured male exotic dancers and female mud wrestlers, and, after topless entertainment was banned about a year ago, DiTrapani began catering to a gay clientele. More recently, she has been turning the cabaret into a teen disco on Sundays.

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None of these entertainment offerings has been particularly pleasing to the powers that be in the affluent city of 18,200.

In her lawsuit, DiTrapani claimed that she was first harassed when city officials demanded excessive paper work and subjected her to unwarranted delays in acting on a request for a conditional use permit that would have allowed adult entertainment at the cafe at 5050 Cornell Road.

She complained that she filed for the permit June 18, 1984, and did not get a vote on the application until being turned down at a public hearing on Jan. 10.

The suit alleges that her civil rights were violated by the passage of an ordinance banning cabarets along the freeway corridor on grounds that such establishments detract from the scenic beauty of the area.

‘Other Unsightly Uses’

DiTrapani questioned the reasoning behind the ordinance, pointing out that in the area close to her business there are “other unsightly commercial uses,” including an auto wrecking lot and a garbage dumpster storage yard.

Besides seeking $10 million in damages from the city, the suit asks the federal court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and issue a permanent injunction barring municipal officials from unfairly harming DiTrapani’s business.

Mayor Carol Saum is named as a defendant in the suit, along with council members John A. Hood, Ernest Dynda, Vicky Leary and Fran Pavley. Also listed as defendants are City Manager Michael W. Huse and Paul A. Williams, city director of planning and community development.