Ban on Nude Dancing at Extasy Club Upheld by Court

An appellate court order forbidding nude dancing and strip-tease entertainment at the Extasy club in Northridge was upheld Thursday when the California Supreme Court refused to review an appeal by the club owners.

The state Supreme Court’s decision ends a legal showdown between the city and Extasy’s operators over municipal zoning, begun by Councilman Hal Bernson when the club opened in January in a former restaurant at Corbin Avenue and Nordhoff Street.

“This is a victory we’re very proud of,” Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office, said Thursday after being notified by telephone of the court’s decision. “The integrity of the Northridge community has been preserved by California’s highest court.”

But attorney John H. Weston, who represents the club’s owners, 7 for the Money Inc. of Los Angeles, said the court’s rejection “makes it a very, very sad day for the people of Los Angeles when their city government acts in one manner, then refuses to say, ‘We’ve changed our minds because we made a mistake.’ It establishes a terrible precedent because it’s the ultimate triumph of government over the citizens.”

Bernson and other opponents said the club, which irritated many residents of the area, violated zoning laws. But Extasy’s owners insisted that they had fully disclosed to the city that they would offer nude dancing, adding that they had obtained proper permits from the city before opening the club.

In January, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Extasy to stop offering nude or striptease dancing until a hearing on the zoning issue. But in March, Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian decided not to extend the restraining order, saying it would lead to “the imminent destruction of the defendant’s business.”

The city appealed, the appellate court reinstated the restraining order in April, and Extasy’s owners appealed to the state Supreme Court.