Board Votes to Close Sexual Encounter Club

The Los Angeles zoning appeals board voted this week to shut down a Silver Lake sexual encounter club that had illegally operated near a residential neighborhood for several years.

At a hearing packed with opponents of the club, called Basic Plumbing, the board refused to grant a zoning variance that would have allowed the establishment to stay open in the 1920 block of Hyperion Avenue.

Residents had complained that club patrons took up parking spaces and also added to late-night cruising problems that have plagued the neighborhood.

Club owners, who were attempting to lease parking spaces from surrounding businesses, argued that their customers are predominantly local and were not responsible for the cruising problems.

Noting that they had recently granted a variance to another sex club, board members said they were not opposed to such establishments, but did not think the Hyperion Avenue location was the right spot for one.