Mary Spicuzza

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After years of legal battles, the Common Council on Tuesday voted to approve a license for a strip club in downtown Milwaukee.

The license for the "Executive Lounge" strip club proposed for 730 N. Old World 3rd St. passed on a 10-5 vote following nearly two hours of heated debate.

Council members on Tuesday also voted to approve agreements signed by club owners saying they will, in turn, drop their lawsuits filed against the City of Milwaukee over past blocked efforts to open downtown.



Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said he will sign off on the plan.

"I know this is not a perfect site, but I'm not certain a perfect site exists. I also know there is potential exposure in the millions of dollars if the city doesn't act in a manner consistent with federal court rulings," Barrett said in an interview Tuesday with the Journal Sentinel. "But at the end of the day, I strongly encourage the Common Council to act on zoning."

The owners of the Executive Lounge include a combination of strip club operators who have previously applied to open downtown. They include Joseph Modl, Scott Krahn and Craig Ploetz of Silk Exotic on W. Silver Spring Road in Milwaukee, and Radomir Buzdum of Silk Exotic in Middleton and other clubs. The new group is named PPH Properties I LLC.

Ploetz, who plans to oversee operations at the club, celebrated the decision.

"We are pleased to have been able to work cooperatively with the City of Milwaukee to arrive at a mutually beneficial conclusion to this historic problem," he said in an emailed statement. "We look forward to working with downtown leaders and our new neighbors to become a part of Milwaukee's vibrant and resurgent downtown. Our club will add to the many and diverse entertainment options available to city residents and visitors."

Ploetz specifically praised Barrett, Council President Ashanti Hamilton and Alds. Jim Bohl and Tony Zielinski.

Zielinski, chairman of the Licenses Committee, repeatedly said that while he opposed five previous attempts to open strip clubs downtown, this application was submitted by a different group with a strong track record of operating clubs around the state. He argued that Silk and Ploetz were a clear improvement over Buzdum, who had initially planned to operate the club.

"This is a totally different situation," he said.

Ald. Robert Bauman disputed that.

"I think we need to lift the veil," Bauman said. "It's not different operators, it's the same operators. They're essentially the same people."

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Bauman also warned that the city was opening itself up to future lawsuits.

"We are trading a license for the dismissal of lawsuits against the city," he said.

Hamilton said he took accusations that council members were "trying to do something underhanded" with the settlement agreements as a "personal insult." He acknowledged they were in a "difficult position" but urged them to avoid further delays and take the vote.

"So that's my plea to this body, that we not make this decision messier than it has to be," Hamilton said.

But Ald. Milele Coggs raised concerns about the way the application has been submitted and handled. For example, she noted at Monday's Licenses Committee meeting that she was told last month armed security would be in front of the establishment, but a follow-up letter from Ploetz said the armed security would be in a car patrolling the block instead.

"I do not like this process," Coggs said Tuesday.

Martha Love of the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee previously warned that "strip clubs are a gateway to human trafficking."

Ploetz wrote in a May 2 letter that the owners are committed to a "Club Operators Against Sex Trafficking" effort to combat the crime. He added that the club owners plan to contribute $10,000 to a local anti-sex trafficking organization "that can assist us in implementing the COAST program."

"As responsible club operators it's our intent to become the vigilant 'eyes and ears' of the community against human sex trafficking," he wrote.

Tuesday's vote came after the plan stalled last month following a contentious, three-hour-long Licenses Committee public hearing. During that meeting, downtown business leaders, activists and others lined up in opposition to the strip club. The council delayed voting on the proposal in April after the downtown Milwaukee Business Improvement District offered to help find other sites for the club.

But soon after that meeting, the BID said it "cannot in good conscience" recommend a location for a strip club in the heart of the city.

The Executive Lounge would join the longtime Art's Performing Center as the city's only two downtown strip clubs. Another club, known as the "Ladybug Club," is now seeking a license to operate a strip club on Water Street.