La Habra’s Ban on Nude Juice Bar Is Upheld

In a major victory for residents, a federal jury found that the city has a right to prevent a nude juice bar from opening.

“This is a huge victory,” Councilman Juan M. Garcia said Monday. “It’s the first time in Orange County that a city has been able to defend its decision.”

City Atty. Richard D. Jones said a U.S. District Court jury in Santa Ana reached its verdict in favor of La Habra last week. U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler on Friday “sustained the jury’s verdict, awarded no damages and issued an order revoking any temporary injunctions, preventing the [Pelican Theater] from opening,” Jones said.

Owners of the Pelican, a former bank on Imperial Highway just west of Harbor Boulevard, last year were denied permission by the City Council to open a nude dance club. They sued in federal court, claiming violation of their 1st Amendment rights, and now plan to appeal the jury’s verdict.

Bassam Moussa, one of the owners, said he was not expecting to lose. “This is very, very weird,” he said.

Moussa’s attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, had predicted a victory because he won a similar case last year in which a topless bar was allowed to open in Westminster. Diamond was out of the country Monday and could not be reached for comment.

Moussa said he and his partners have spent more than $1 million on the Pelican Theater and on legal fees.

“They won at the moment, but we will pursue this project and we will open,” he said. “We are not going anywhere after spending all this money and all this time. . . . We’ll go to the Supreme Court if necessary.”

Jones said the city has already spent between $50,000 and $100,000 defending itself in court. “You win one battle, then it’s on to the next. It tends to be a drawn-out process,” he said. “We’re just hoping that the decision of the City Council continues to be affirmed.”

“For now,” Councilman Steven C. Anderson said, “we’re very excited.”

Hundreds of residents who had protested the Pelican at City Council meetings and on the street in front of the proposed establishment now are planning a celebration.

“We’re exhilarated,” said Maida Kimes, a member of Citizens for a Better La Habra, a group formed by residents of La Habra and neighboring Fullerton to fight the business.

The organization’s members staged a protest last month and vowed to picket the establishment if it ever opens.

Cities cannot ban adult businesses but can limit them to certain areas and impose other restrictions. In La Habra, adult businesses are not allowed within 275 feet of any church, school or park. The Pelican meets that requirement.

But when the City Council denied the Pelican a permit to operate, council members said that the owners had not provided adequate parking and that the theater had the potential for attracting crime.

“We still have the zoning that allows for adult entertainment,” Garcia said. “But the [jury’s decision] tells people that a lot of careful thought has to be given and very good plans have to be laid out in order to open here.”