Topless club's impacts to be examined prior to licensing

The transformation of the former Bill's Casino at Stateline to a topless club will have to acquire a license to operate from the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.

In a Wednesday memorandum to commissioners, County Manager T. Michael Brown outlined considerations the county will need to make before approving or denying a license for a development at the Bill's building proposed by South Shore attorney Mike Laub.

Laub bought the former Bill's building for $5.225 million on Feb. 26. He has plans to rent the space to retail and dining establishments and start a topless club called The Pearl inside.

Lake Tahoe Basin regulations limit strip clubs to the Stateline Community Plan area, which encompasses the South Shore casino corridor.

The club is allowable with the proper licensing, Brown said.

The proprietor of a club must first submit a license application to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, which will conduct a background check similar to those required of people applying for liquor or gaming licenses, said Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini.

"What we have to do is make sure a person who is applying for a license is suitable to be issued one," Pierini said.

The Sheriff's Office will then make a recommendation to the board of commissioners at a public hearing, where commissioners must also consider the impact the business will have on the surrounding area. The commissioners will look at if the business will contribute to blight or reduce property values and what effect the business will have on possible criminal activity in the area before approving or denying a license, Brown said.

Although the club's potential impact on the Stateline area has yet to be examined, strip clubs typically increase calls for service to police, Pierini said.

Laub expects to employ a private security team at the club and has offered to donate $75,000 to fund an additional deputy for the Sheriff's Office.

Whether to accept donation will be up to commissioners, Pierini said.

"He's not going to donate the money to the Sheriff's Office," Pierini said. "It would be 100 percent up to the county commission to either accept that or not."

When the board of commissioners could discuss the possible club is unknown. Laub has yet to submit an application for the club and has said he's open to other uses for the building if a reasonable offer is brought forward.

"If we do receive an application it will go through the process identified above," Brown said. "The county will not speculate about the outcome of any matter that may or may not come before the Board for a decision."