Until now, Bada Bing, 913 N. Second St., has been the only Lawrence establishment to feature all-nude dancing -- serving soda and fruit juices instead of alcohol. City law bans nude dancing in businesses that serve alcohol.
With Tuesday's drinking license approval, dancers at the club will be required to wear G-strings and pasties.
Commissioners said they didn't want to approve the license, but had no legally viable way out.
But they served notice the city will keep a close eye on happenings at the club. If nude dancing is discovered at the club, the city could revoke the license.
"We have a code in place," Mayor Jim Henry said, "and we can address violations of that code as they occur."
Another business, Club 508 at 508 Locust, didn't get off the hook. Neighbors often complained about the club's predecessor, Los Amigos, during previous license renewals and those complaints continued Tuesday.
"We've dropped right back into the situation of loud noise, trash, urinating and destruction of the neighborhood," said Ted Boyle, president of the North Lawrence Improvement Assn. "We need help over there with this. This is an uncontrollable situation."
Another neighborhood resident, Kelly Boyle-Wolfe, said she found a syringe in her yard and has seen other evidence of drug use by the club's patrons.
She said previous city interventions in the matter had failed.
"I just feel the commission's not being taken seriously by the owner of the bar," she said. "This is getting old."
But the club's owner, Jesse Del Campo, said many of the problems had been alleviated since the previous license renewal battles.
"Since I'm zoned for the business, I think I have the right to run my business there," he said.
Commissioners asked Del Campo to return to next week's commission meeting with information about security at the club and neighborhood cleanup efforts.
Commissioner Erv Hodges said the issue has become tiresome.
"This problem's like dandelions," he said. "It shows up every spring. We may need some weed-killer shortly."
-- Staff writer Joel Mathis can be reached at 832-7126.
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