Chatsworth : Strip Club Ad to Be Removed After Protest

An advertisement for a North Hollywood strip club featuring a scantily clad woman did not have the desired effect on many Chatsworth residents.

Instead of drumming up business, the billboard for the Industrial Strip adult club offended and incensed parents, teachers and community activists, who said the sign would be clearly visible from the soon-to-open Chatsworth train station and can be easily seen by children traveling to and from four public schools.

After parents and a representative from City Councilman Hal Bernson’s office called the billboard company to complain, Eller Media Co. of Los Angeles has promised to remove the advertisement, possibly as early as Monday, community members said.

“We’re planning to go out and cheer as they take it down,” said Michelle DeGaetano, a Chatsworth parent. “It’s just one more thing that we don’t need in the community. There’s another sign in Canoga Park, but it’s in a more industrial area,” DeGaetano added.

“Our sign is too visible to kids, to people going to the grocery store, to the library. . . . It just seems like there are no boundaries anymore.”

DeGaetano and other community leaders praised billboard company officials for their willingness to take down the sign to accommodate public concern.