The online version of the Dispatch reports that Ante Bilic,
owner of several Sunnyvale strip clubs, is withdrawing his
application to open one in Gilroy, apparently in response to
revelations from Home Depot lawyers that the owner of the premises,
Credit Suisse, forbade
”
adult
”
entertainment as part of its declaration of conditions,
covenants, and restrictions.
The online version of the Dispatch reports that Ante Bilic, owner of several Sunnyvale strip clubs, is withdrawing his application to open one in Gilroy, apparently in response to revelations from Home Depot lawyers that the owner of the premises, Credit Suisse, forbade “adult” entertainment as part of its declaration of conditions, covenants, and restrictions. (I use “adult” in quotation marks because although strip clubs are definitely not for children, the hallmark of real adulthood is taking responsibility. Promiscuity is not adult in any meaningful sense. It is more of a delayed, immature, sniggering adolescence. But I digress.)
It is interesting (and appalling) to me that the Gilroy City Planning Department did not summarily reject the application. I have read the approval document, which is very explicit about the proposed facility, including the six booths for lap dancing. The whole rationale for zoning ordinances is supposed to be that they will enhance the quality of life in a community. How is allowing young girls to dry hump males in exchange for tips supposed to enhance the value of life in our community?
The endorsement from the city planning staff also stated that this use was “harmonious” with respect to the adjacent businesses. One could make a valid argument that the use was harmonious if the adjacent businesses were bars and porn shops. One can only make bad jokes about how similar a strip club is to the existing hardware store, office supply store, and pet shop. If only the tire store were a lube job store … oh, well. But these are just bad jokes.
The bad judgment of the Planning Department makes the City of Gilroy look like a bad joke, and if more layoffs were necessary in the future, I would begin with the Planning Department. I am also appalled that the chief of police, Denise Turner, was apparently ready to approve the facility had the process continued. The City of Gilroy has an ordinance that requires police department approval to open a strip club. The police department is stretched to its limits right now suppressing gang activity.
Chief Turner knows from personal experience in her former position in Washington that so-called “adult” entertainment requires policing to curb the prostitution, drugs, and violence that inevitably ensue. Yet she was ready to weenie out and approve it. Disappointing.
I am amazed and thankful that what government could not or would not do was accomplished by private enterprise. In 2001, when Credit Suisse sold a portion of its lot to the owner of El Amigo restaurant, the Swiss financial services organization prohibited the use of the property for bars, lounges, and “adult” entertainment enterprises. The situation reminds me of the society portrayed in two science fiction novels: “Snow Crash” and “Diamond Age,” both by Neal Stephenson. I cannot recommend the books to minors because of the immorality, but the sociology is fascinating, almost prophetic.
The books tell of a time when societal morality has died. The government has been stretched to the point where it can no longer provide roads, facilities, or even police or military protection. A person’s only hope of safety is to be accepted into an enclave, a private enterprise something like a cross between IBM and a homeowners association.
Inside such an enclave, the members follow strict rules and raise their families in what looks very much like 20th century America or Victorian England. Outside, the mass of humanity lives and dies in crime, violence, and chaos.
One last point: Gilroy is probably one of the very few communities in California, maybe in America, where the citizens would have learned about the proposed strip club before the permit was approved. We learned about it because of the Dispatch. This is the power of the press: that the ordinary citizens can be informed, that they can have a voice, that they can criticize the government, that the government cannot operate without scrutiny. This is why freedom of the press is such a vital part of liberty. Support freedom; subscribe to the Dispatch.
