Chippendales Allowed to Stay Open by Judge

A judge Friday allowed Chippendales to temporarily remain open pending further court action on attempts by the Los Angeles Fire Department to close the popular club.

The city’s Fire Commission on Thursday revoked the club’s fire permit, which would have closed it. On Friday, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Leonard Wolf postponed the commission’s action until an Aug. 29 court hearing.

“For all practical purposes, you (would) put them out of business” if Chippendales was forced to close until the hearing, Wolf told attorneys for the city.

In his ruling, Wolf listed several conditions for the club to remain open. He ruled, for instance, that the club’s disco, which opens nightly after the all-male exotic dance shows, would not be allowed to operate.

Pleased by Ruling

Club spokesman Dan Escamilla said he was pleased by the ruling. “What we were concerned about was the show, and the show will go on,” Escamilla said.

Fire officials contend that overcrowding, with hundreds of women often crammed into the club and blocking exits and aisles, creates a potentially disastrous situation in the event of fire or other emergency.

While Chippendales attorney, Kevin McLean, admitted to the commission that there may have been previous Fire Code violations at the club, he argued that the majority of the 14 citations for overcrowding were issued before the city raised the occupancy limit to 299 from 230 in 1984.

Fire officials said inspectors have found as many as 435 people in the club, in the 3700 block of Overland Avenue, at one time.

Working to Comply With Law

McLean also argued that there have been only three citations in the last two years since Fire Department officials began regular weekend inspections, proving that the club was working to comply with the law. And, he contended, the latest violation in January was falsely cited, as testimony from a five-month administrative hearing that ended in June demonstrated.

Two weeks ago, the club lost its liquor license when state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control officials said their appeals board upheld a contested ruling citing the club in violation of the Business and Professions Code, barring sexual discrimination.