In a clash over a city’s prohibition on nude dancing, Oasis Goodtime Emporium asked the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow it to continue doing business as it had for 22 years before being placed inside Doraville’s borders.
Doraville annexed Oasis in 2012 and then passed an ordinance barring fully nude dancing altogether and semi-nude dancing when alcohol is served.
The case is an example of the conflict between local government’s power to establish standards of decency and free speech rights when Atlanta-area cities seek to put restrictions on strip clubs.
In a similar legal struggle, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in October that the city of Brookhaven had the right to bar nudity and alcohol at the Pink Pony. The Brookhaven City Council then voted in November to allow the Pink Pony to continue providing nude dancers and alcohol in exchange for a $225,000 annual fee.
An attorney for Oasis argued that Doraville is infringing on the club’s free speech rights and trying to drive it out of town.
“It would go out of business and die. We’re having our business destroyed because of an annexation,” said Alan Begner, who represents several metro Atlanta strip clubs. “I think that’s unfair when they haven’t done anything wrong.”
But the city of Doraville’s attorney told Supreme Court justices that the Georgia Constitution doesn’t guarantee any free speech protection for nude dancing in a sexually oriented businesses.
“The historical records of the Georgia Constitution don’t support a claimed right to nude dancing,” said attorney Scott Bergthold.
Oasis, which is located along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard near the northern edge of Interstate 285, previously paid DeKalb County a $100,000 annual licensing fee under a settlement with the county that allowed it to avoid complying with a county prohibition on serving alcohol at an adult entertainment business.
But when the Georgia General Assembly approved an expansion of Doraville’s boundaries in March 2012, the city wasn’t bound by the deal Oasis had made with the county.
The Doraville City Council voted in October 2012 to crack down on naked dancing because of a desire to reduce crime by separating alcohol from adult entertainment, according to Bergthold’s court filings.
Oasis and Doraville couldn’t agree on an annual fee arrangement, Begner said.
“Politicians think they have to stand up against adult businesses,” he said. “We would like to settle, like we did with the Pink Pony.”
Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias questioned both sides about whether Georgia’s Constitution grants greater freedom of speech protections than the U.S. Constitution. He also asked Begner to explain why a local government couldn’t restrict strip clubs in the same way as video or book stores.
The court will make a ruling sometime in the next few months.
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