LONG BEACH : Strip Club May Stay at Present Location

A legal battle that prompted the city to revamp its laws on adult entertainment last year may be drawing to a close.

The city’s Planning Commission has recommended a zoning change that would allow Angels nightclub, which has battled the city over its right to feature nude dancing, to stay at its West Long Beach location.

Angels owner Renee Vicary said she is prepared to drop a lawsuit against the city if officials allow the club to remain at its Pacific Coast Highway site.

Last year, Vicary challenged a municipal law that required adult businesses to remain at least 500 feet from residential zones, claiming that the city failed to provide enough alternative sites. Angels is across the street from an abandoned Navy housing complex.

Vicary won a court injunction last summer that stopped the city from forcing her to move to an area zoned for adult entertainment. The injunction allowed her to remain open until the case could be heard in a trial this fall. As a result of Vicary’s legal challenge, the city reluctantly decided to loosen its laws regulating adult businesses--allowing the establishments closer to neighborhoods, schools and parks--so the measures could stand up to subsequent legal challenges. But Angels also violated the revised law because of its proximity to the Navy housing.

But the whole matter could be resolved next month when the City Council is expected to rezone the Navy housing site for a variety of non-residential projects, including a research park and job training center.