SIMI VALLEY : Rule Change Blocks Plan for Nude Bar

The city of Simi Valley has stripped a shopping center owner of a zone clearance he would have needed to proceed with plans to convert nearly half of his center into a nude bar.

Philip Young, a Las Vegas real estate entrepreneur, this week received a letter from the city informing him that an initial ruling by city staff that he had enough parking to accommodate the club was in error.

Young, who purchased the shopping center at 999 Los Angeles Ave. on Dec. 8 at a Resolution Trust Corp. auction, had received a zoning clearance last month to redesign the 11,000-square-foot center to allow the proposed Simi Dancing Bear to occupy nearly half of that space.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said that approval was based on Young being able to “double count” some of the parking spots in the center because some businesses would be closed when the bar was open. But Stratton said a further review by staff revealed that even with some double counting, Young did not have the roughly 60 spaces the business would require.

Public sentiment had already begun to build against Young’s proposed tenant. A few residents spoke out against the bar at Monday’s council meeting.

Young said he may scale the nightclub down so less parking would be required. In a phone conversation with Stratton this week, Young said he also offered to dump plans for the adult business if the city agreed to improve traffic access to the shopping center.