NORTH HILLS : City Council Fails in Bid to Close Topless Bar
- Share via
The Los Angeles City Council tried Tuesday to close a North Hills topless bar under an ordinance prohibiting sex-oriented entertainment close to residences, but the bar’s management already had gotten a federal court order blocking the city action.
The council contended that the Classy Lady, a beer bar on Sepulveda Boulevard, violated a 1986 city ordinance forbidding sexually oriented businesses from operating within 500 feet of residentially zoned land. The Classy Lady is 100 feet from an apartment building.
By an 11-0 vote, the council denied the bar’s owner, Marilyn Gressman, an exemption from the ordinance.
But she and the owners of 25 similar businesses had secured a preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Richard Gadboise in February, barring the city from enforcing the law while the businesses await trial of their lawsuits challenging the ordinance as unreasonable.
The city has appealed the ruling to a higher court but the injunction temporarily suspends any attempt to enforce it.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.