SIMI VALLEY : Man Takes Fight for Strip Club to Internet

Despite Simi Valley’s promises to squash his plans, real estate manager Phil Young vowed Wednesday to fight for the right to open a nude dance club when the Planning Commission reviews it in March.

Young has even taken his battle to the Internet, by e-mailing pleas for support to 100 Simi Valley residents--about one-third of whom messaged him back, he said.

“The majority came in favoring it,” said Young, who counted 20 responses in favor of his right to open the Mirages Cabaret strip club.

Young says he looked through membership profiles, available to all users of America OnLine’s computer network, and found about 100 users who lived in Simi Valley.

Then he e-mailed a letter to them asking for “a simple paragraph of approval.”

“We all know that 99% of the people who go to strip clubs are normal people,” Young’s letter said in part. “Strip clubs have their place in society; it is part of American culture which no one can deny.”

Young said one respondent wrote back: “For many years I’ve enjoyed going to strip clubs. I don’t enjoy those people imposing their view on me. I’m the furthest thing from a pervert you’ll ever meet. I enjoy beautiful women every day. In fact, I married one.”

Young said he would pursue his application for a business permit at a Planning Commission meeting in March--even though city planners say the club will be rejected because it is too close to a Bible study center and a karate center catering to children. After that, he said, he would press a lawsuit already in federal court that seeks to force the city to approve his plans.

Young’s chief opponent, Steve Frank, dismissed the 20 favorable e-mail messages, pointing to petitions that he says hold the names of 10,000 Simi Valley residents opposed to the strip club plan.

And Frank scoffed at Young’s e-mail contention that more than 65% of the signatures are from children.

“Our estimate is that somewhere under 1,000 of the 10,000 signatures are from kids,” said Frank, head of Simi Valley Citizens R Against Pornography. “And what difference does it make? Kids have the right to a clean environment and they have the right to speak out on their opinions.”