Prostitution Concerns Halt Effort To Allow Booze In Chicago Strip Clubs
Prostitution Concerns Halt Effort To Allow Booze In Chicago Strip Clubs
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An alderman's concerns about prostitution have delayed efforts to allow adult entertainment clubs to offer both liquor and semi-nude dancing at the same location.
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports city ordinance currently requires adult clubs to choose between serving alcohol or allowing dancers to be partly naked.
An ordinance sponsored by Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) would keep the ban's on alcohol in clubs that feature full nudity, but clubs in properly zoned areas could feature topless dancing and serve booze.
Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) moved to defer a final vote on the measure at Wednesday's meeting – meaning the soonest the City Council can vote is next month – because he's worried strip clubs foster prostitution.
"The underlying problem that I see is the human trafficking element; the amount of prostitution in this city – between 15,000 and 25,000 women a day that are engaging in it – that undermines us as a city," he said.
Fioretti said those concerns should be addressed before allowing clubs that permit partial nudity to also serve alcohol.
"The question is who goes there? What happens? Who are the women that are being enticed into these establishments?" he said.
