La Habra Ordered to Issue Permit to Nude Bar

A federal appeals court Thursday ordered the city of La Habra to allow a nude juice bar to open for business while the judges consider the merits of a constitutional challenge to a city ordinance.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Roger Jon Diamond, a lawyer representing the owners of the Pelican Theater on Imperial Highway, just west of Harbor Boulevard. “It’s been a real battle.”

The owners have been trying to open the adult theater since 1995 when they acquired and began renovating a former bank building. The bar would feature nude dancing and offer nonalcoholic beverages.

The City Council, however, rejected the owners’ application for a conditional use permit on the grounds that the establishment would not meet parking and landscaping requirements. Hundreds of residents also staged demonstrations protesting the proposed opening of the theater.

The city’s finding was later upheld by a federal judge.

On Thursday, however, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the city to grant a conditional use permit. The judges, who still must decide issues raised in the appeal, said the Pelican Theater had “raised serious questions concerning the constitutionality” of the ordinance under which the permit had been denied.

“It’s disappointing,” City Atty. Richard D. Jones said of the ruling. “Local officials were not allowed to fairly judge the situation.”

Nonetheless, he said, the city “will make all reasonable accommodations to allow it to open.”

Diamond said his clients hope to begin doing business at the theater within a week.