Nude Juice Bar Allowed to Reopen

The owner of the Flamingo Theater nude juice bar said it would reopen today after a court said the business could operate while it reviews a controversial city ordinance that closed Huntington Beach’s only sex-oriented establishment in November.

The City Council passed the ordinance, which prohibits dancers, waitresses or other employees from being within six feet of customers, in October. The bar closed Nov. 15, when the law took effect.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed,” said Richard Barnard, city director of communications. “We [enacted] the ordinance for the betterment and the protection of the community.”

City officials said they passed the ordinance to help curb violence, vandalism, prostitution and sexual activity they believe can stem from a sex-oriented business.

However, the Flamingo Theater, on Beach Boulevard, could not operate under the new ordinance, said Los Angeles-based lawyer Randall Garrou, who represents the club’s owners.

“The ordinance made it economically impossible for them to operate. How can a waitress hand a customer food or a beverage if they could not get within six feet of a customer?”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the legality of the ordinance as early as March, Garrou said.