Strip club back on track in Kennewick

Backers of a strip club and sports bar in the former Lucky Bridge Casino could get the business license they need to open by next week.

The city denied the business license application for City Stars Gentlemen’s Club on Dec.8 after the owners failed to meet the deadline to submit plans to physically separate the club from the bar within the same building.

City Stars requested and received a 20-day extension. The city now has until Dec. 28 to respond to the license request.

Evelyn Lusignan, spokeswoman for the city, said City Stars appears to be taking the necessary steps to qualify for a license.

It submitted building plans and received a construction permit. The property has been subject to inspection. If it receives a certificate of occupancy by the Dec. 28 deadline, the city will issue a license.

City Stars has generated controversy since the owners first advertised for employees in November.

Diana and Juan Murillo, who own a nearby business, don’t approve and have been waving protest signs at passersby for several weeks. They’re occasionally joined by others.

“I just cannot see one good thing coming from this,” said Diana Murillo, who said she plans to keep protesting even if the business opens. “I think it’s going to bring crime to the area. That’s what I am concerned about.”

City Stars is a limited liability corporation owned by Octavio Rodriguez and Hector and Jennifer Salgado.

They applied for a business license for the strip club this fall. The review was complicated in November 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 Gum St.

Washington law prohibits alcohol sales in nude dancing establishments.

To operate the businesses, City Stars has to create two physically and legally distinct businesses, which requires some modifications to the building before the city could approve a license.

Hector Salgado said the two businesses will share a wall and nothing more. The strip club will serve water, soda and energy drinks. It will not even use the sports pub’s kitchen to serve food.

Rodriguez and the Salgados own the 7,557-square-foot building through a separate company, 101 Gum Property LLC.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Strip club back on track in Kennewick."