Cheetahs strip club faces closure Appellate court ruled in favor of city's decision to revoke club's permit

Photo by Howie Rosen Cheetahs dancer

The City of San Diego's decision to revoke a popular strip club's permit stands, ruled an appellate court.

On September 28, California's Fourth District Appellate Court found that the Kearny Mesa all-nude club had a "pattern of ongoing rules violations" and the city was justified in pulling the club's permits in June 2014.

The violations began in 2006 when the city and San Diego Police Department's vice unit first dinged the strip club for improper nudity as well as allegations that dancers were ignoring San Diego's no-touch law during private dances in order to earn bigger tips from patrons. Violations at the club continued in the following years. According to the appellate court ruling, the club was fined for improper touching on more than four occasions from 2006 to 2014, when the city revoked the club's permit.

Dancers and the club manager tell a different tale. As reported by the Reader, they claim the city targeted and harassed them. That much, they say, was evident in March 2014 when Cheetah's longtime manager Rich Buonantony and several dancers went to the media to complain about a police raid during which officers ordered women to line up and pose for photographs in their lingerie. Several claim they were forced to undress in front of officers.

The media attention made matters worse for Cheetah's. In a June 2015 interview, Buontantony said undercover officers frequented the club searching for infractions.

“In the past 25 years, Cheetahs has never had a complaint for prostitution or sexual acts or anything, not drugs, nothing. More 911 calls are called in to resolve issues at Chuck E. Cheese in one year than we have had in 25 years. We are easy targets. Who’s going to feel sorry for us? When we went to the [permit] revocation process, there were 15 deputy city attorneys there. Judging by their presence, you’d think it was some major bust. But it was only over minor infractions, like rubbing against an officer’s leg during a lap dance. It’s mind-boggling.”

In response to the city's decision to revoke Cheetahs permit, the club's owner, Suzanne Coe, filed a lawsuit against the city. Coe's lawsuit claimed San Diego's laws governing strip clubs are unconstitutional.

Superior Court judge Randa Trapp was not convinced and ruled in favor of the city. Coe appealed the decision. On September 28, appellate court judges again sided with the city.

"Under these circumstances, the city could have reasonably concluded the lesser penalty of a 15-day suspension would not have ameliorated the pattern of ongoing rules violations," reads the ruling from the Fourth Appellate Court district. "Consequently, we cannot conclude the city abused its discretion by acting arbitrarily and capriciously in choosing revocation rather than a 15-day suspension as the appropriate penalty for the rules violations at Coe's business."

In a September 30 press release, San Diego city attorney Jan Goldsmith praised the decision.

"The illegal conduct by Cheetahs was extensively documented and four judges have now reached the same conclusion: that the city is acting legally by denying a permit to a business that cannot or will not follow the law,” Goldsmith said.

Yet, while the ruling is a victory for the city, the club and several dancers are turning their attention to a separate lawsuit in federal court. That lawsuit is ongoing and is expected to go to trial in February 2018.

Cheetahs' history with San Diego’s restrictive no-touch policy goes deeper than the club turning the other cheek in regard to their dancers ignoring San Diego’s no-touch policy.

In 2003, in a scandal later known as “Strippergate,” former city councilmembers Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza were accused of accepting bribes from former Cheetahs owner Jack Gallardi in exchange for amending the no-touch ordinance to make it more amenable for strip clubs. The policy has not been changed since the scandal.