WESTMINSTER : Topless Bar’s Fate Rests With U.S. Judge

Residents opposed to a topless bar proposed near their neighborhood have taken their case to a federal judge who will decide if the business will be allowed to open.

Members of the Traditional Values Coalition of Westminster this week presented U.S. District Judge Laughlin E. Waters with a petition signed by more than 800 residents opposing the bar on Westminster Boulevard.

The residents said the topless bar, if allowed to open, would increase crime in their neighborhood and endanger the safety of their children.

Waters on Monday will hear a suit filed by the bar owner, Santa Fe Springs Realty Corp., asking the federal court to compel Westminster city officials to issue a permit to operate the bar.

Last year city officials refused Santa Fe’s request for a permit, citing noise, increased traffic and potential for crime if the bar was allowed to open.

Santa Fe filed suit contending that the city was discriminating against adult businesses and that the denial was a violation of constitutional guarantees of free expression.

The bar would feature topless female dancers, and nude dancing is a form of speech protected by the U.S. Constitution, said Bob Martin, who would operate the bar.

Martin has obtained a preliminary injunction from Waters allowing the bar’s construction to continue while the case was pending.

Waters will rule following the hearing Monday whether Westminster officials should issue a permit and allow the business to open.