By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 26, 2007

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. said yesterday that he will introduce amendments to the council that would block nude entertainment clubs from moving to Ward 5.

Thomas (D-Ward 5) said one proposal would prohibit club owners in Washington from transferring liquor licenses for such businesses if they are leasing or have recently bought their properties.

The second measure would prohibit setting up such adult clubs within 1,200 feet of one another in an effort to prevent the establishment of an adult entertainment district in the Ivy City and Trinidad communities in Ward 5 in Northeast.

Owners of adult clubs were forced to close businesses on O Street SE when the city began building the new Washington Nationals stadium. Some owners have already bought property or have made plans to open clubs along and just off New York Avenue NE in Ward 5.

District law forbids nude clubs to transfer liquor licenses from one location to another. However, council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has proposed a bill that would allow them to move their licenses on a one-time basis to a property with the same commercial and industrial zoning they had in Southeast.

The residential sections of Ivy City and Trinidad are tucked between swaths of land designated as commercial and industrial zones. If the D.C. Council approves Graham's bill, the clubs could open there and serve alcohol.

The council has scheduled an initial vote on the bill June 5.

Thomas said Graham's legislation unfairly accommodates properties that club owners have already chosen for relocation.

"I don't think we should already have predetermined sites," Thomas said. "You're making legislation to fit those sites."

One club owner, Robert Siegel, who is an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 6, has bought two properties on West Virginia Avenue NE in Ward 5 with a total value of $6.6 million, according to property records. Thomas's staff says it has identified as many as eight clubs considering moving to Ward 5.

Graham said he proposed the legislation because he thinks the clubs should be allowed to relocate. He said he wants to work on a solution with Thomas before the clubs are forced to close permanently.

"I think that the amendments would end the ability of these clubs to relocate and might very well end their ability to locate anywhere," he said.