Nude club owners still waiting on clearance

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH--Employees at a Beach Boulevard medical clinic are

worried the opening of a nearby nude juice bar might scare away patients.

“We hope [the bar] will be self-contained, and it won’t impact any of

our patients coming in for care,” said Judy White, spokeswoman for Kaiser

Permanente in Orange County. “At this point, it has been decided it is

opening, so we have to move forward.”

The Flamingo Theater wanted to open its doors last month at 18121

Beach Blvd.

But it has yet to receive a final clearance from the city’s Building

and Safety Department, said Ross Cranmer, the department’s director.

Cranmer said the club could open soon, possibly following an

inspection this week. If it passes, it may open this weekend.

Randy Garrou, attorney for the club’s management, did not return a

phone message left Monday asking for comment.

The club would be the first business in Huntington Beach to provide

live adult entertainment. Patrons would have to be at least 18, and the

club would not serve alcohol.

“It is not something you would be delighted to have in the area,”

White said. “Our [primary care clinic on Beach Boulevard] is a family

place. We want to make sure that [the bar] isn’t an intimidating

environment for young patients.”

White said city ordinances should forbid a nude bar from being

established near a medical facility because of the large number of

children who use clinics.

City law allows nude bars to be established, as long as they don’t

sell alcohol and are not near schools.

At least one merchant believes the bar has a right to be there.

Amer Masri, a manager at Inces Beach Market at Beach and Talbert

Avenue said that, as long as the bar operators obey the law, they have

the right to run a business in the area.

If nude bars were illegal in California, he said, “I would be against

[the Flamingo Theater].”