Kennewick strip club owners want to sell liquor next door

The company hoping to open a strip club in Kennewick this month intends to open a sports pub selling alcohol in the same building.

Owners of the proposed City Stars Gentlemen’s Club have applied for a liquor license for a sports bar that would share a wall with the strip club inside the former Lucky Bridge Casino building, near the cable bridge.

City Stars Gentlemen’s Club and City Stars Sports Bar will share the space but will be physically and legally separate.

Kennewick officials face a Dec. 8 deadline to approve or reject a business license for the strip club.

The city is reviewing the controversial proposal, but its work was complicated when City Stars applied to the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board for a license to sell spirits, beer and wine at the same address, 101 S. Gum St.

The city has not issued a business license and does not currently have enough information to act on, said spokeswoman Evelyn Lusignan.

She said it was notified of the liquor license application for the separate sports pub.

State rules prohibit serving alcohol at adult entertainment venues, which means City Stars must create two physically distinct businesses within the building. As of this week, it had not submitted building plans showing how it will modify the former casino to meet the requirement.

“They still have a lot to do,” Lusignan said.

City Stars is a limited liability corporation owned by Octavio Rodriguez and Hector and Jennifer Salgado, with addresses in Richland and Sunnyside.

Hector Salgado told the Herald on Friday that the team just received architectural drawings showing how the building built in 1964 will be divided. It is reviewing them before sending them to the city.

Salgado said the physical changes will comply with all laws governing separation between the strip club and the planned sports pub.

If the city doesn’t have enough information to issue a business license by its Dec. 8 deadline, City Stars can request an extension.

Salgado confirmed that the City Stars team now owns the former casino through a limited liability corporation.

The principals formed 101 Gum Property LLC in November. Benton County property records confirm it is the legal owner of the building. It has an estimated market value of nearly $950,000.

Salgado said the Gentlemen’s Club will occupy one portion of the 7,557-square-foot building and the pub will occupy the other. He couldn’t say how the space will be assigned, but said the pub and club will each have its own entrance, address and bathrooms.

The sports pub will have a kitchen to support food service but it will not support the strip club. The club will serve water, soda and energy drinks but no food.

Both businesses will operate under the City Stars LLC banner.

Little has changed outwardly at the property, but Salgado expects the strip club to open in mid-December, pending approval of its business license.

The sports bar will require a separate license. The business license application has not been submitted but Salgado said the pub could open in two to three months.

City Stars is accepting applications for various jobs but has not yet begun hiring. A posting for entertainers and waiters is posted online as well.

Plans for a strip club have generated some controversy. Lusignan confirmed the city is being asked by some to stop the club from opening.

The city is guided by the general legal consensus that nude dancing is a protected form of expression under the First Amendment, even if it is an activity some find offensive or disagreeable, she said.

While it can’t ban such businesses, the city can regulate where and how they operate.

Salgado said City Stars plans to fully comply with all laws.

Locally, adult entertainment businesses may not operate within 500 feet of a residential zone, of any public or private school or trade or vocational school, any church or religious facility, any park or public facility or within 1,500 feet of another “adult concession.”

Lusignan said the city has received several questions about why it can ban marijuana businesses but not adult ones.

Initiative 502, which legalized marijuana passed, created legislation that gives cities the ability to regulate cannabis within their boundaries.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Kennewick strip club owners want to sell liquor next door."