Officers conducted an operation at Doraville’s only strip club Tuesday, finding illegal alcohol sales in violation of multiple court orders, police said.
Doraville police found Oasis Goodtime Emporium, located off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, was serving alcohol without a license, according to a news release. Doraville also bans sexually oriented businesses from serving alcohol, which has led to multiple lawsuits and Georgia Supreme Court rulings.
The future of the nightclub is in question following the latest police bust. Several nightclubs in Chamblee and Sandy Springs have shut down over the past few years as Atlanta suburban cities have passed further restrictions on how they can conduct business.
“Since coming within the city limits of Doraville eight years ago, Oasis Goodtime Emporium has been in violation of city laws on every occasion that our officers have visited the establishment,” Doraville Police Chief Chuck Atkinson said in the release. “Time and again, Oasis has flagrantly violated our laws and multiple court rulings. We trust that this new evidence offers enough proof that Oasis has no basis to continue operating in disregard of the city’s court-tested laws.”
Police executed a search warrant Tuesday after receiving multiple reports of illegal alcohol sales, the release said. Officers searched only the main room of the strip club, and they said they found dozens of bottles of alcohol being served to patrons.
At the end of 2019, a judge ordered Oasis, which bills itself as “Atlanta’s best burlesque show,” to cease operations. However, the nightclub has openly ignored that injunction and filed a new lawsuit that claims Doraville is trying to run it out of business by targeting it with citations and fines.
Oasis, represented by attorney Alan Begner, has mostly lost its multiple lawsuits against the city during the past eight years. His most recent lawsuit added to claims that Doraville pads its budget with a disproportionate amount of code enforcement and traffic fines.
“Doraville’s actions (Tuesday) were needlessly aggressive, and are just the latest in a long line of attempts by the city to deny Oasis due process through force and intimidation,” Begner’s law firm said in an emailed statement. “All Oasis has ever asked for is a trial in DeKalb County Superior Court, and every maneuver by Doraville has been calculated to deny Oasis that opportunity.”
Doraville City Manager Chris Eldridge said it’s time for Oasis to close its doors for good.
“We have documented countless examples of Oasis breaking our city’s laws, which is why the courts have repeatedly sided with the City since 2013,” he said in the release. “This property has become a nuisance to the city and the surrounding community, which includes multiple residential homes and an elementary school just a quarter of a mile down the road.”
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