It's A No-Go For Ald. Burke's Topless Dancer Ordinance

By Margaret Paulson in News on Apr 15, 2015 9:10PM

Ald. Ed Burke declined to call a vote for an ordinance at Wednesday’s City Council meeting that would allow venues that serve alcohol to have topless dancers, provided they pass through strict guidelines via licensing and zoning as a "cabaret." Burke had planned to bring the ordinance up for a vote Wednesday but declined after deciding it probably wouldn't get enough votes.

Lest anyone think he’s being a lewd old man, Burke pointed out that the strip club vote is just a matter of “housekeeping,” before a new city council is sworn in, according to the Chicago Tribune, saying “It is the end of the term for most of these members, and we should call it up and either adopt it or reject it."

In fact, the ordinance has been hanging around since February 2014, when 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack proposed it to put an end to the illegal use of late-night bars, theaters and adult bookstores as strip joints. The measure would outlaw strip clubs unless they had special zoning and license as a “cabaret.”

It seems that Ald. Waguespack’s understanding of the law was limited, however. Because after a Tribune story revealed that, in fact, places that achieved the strict “cabaret” licensing would be able to serve alcohol alongside women with bare breasts, Ald. Waguespack withdrew his support.

So still the ordinance hangs in limbo.

What does the ordinance mean for adult entertainment? It means that if someone would like to open a club that serves up alcoholic beverages and partial nudity, the owner has to meet strict zoning codes - the establishment must be 1,000 feet from churches, schools and homes and not located in a planned manufacturing district. The owner would also need to make it through community hearings under a special-use permit.

Will the ordinance pass? It's hard to tell. But if anyone could do it, we'd place our bets on Ald. Burke. He is the longest-serving Chicago alderman with 46 years under his belt. He’s the current Chair of the Council’s Committee on Finance and is known as a power-player and sometimes “The Real Mayor of Chicago.” He gets things done - like somehow getting the plows to hit his southwest-side street no less than five times in less than three days during 2015’s Snowpocalypse, a feat we all know to be nearly impossible.