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Sure, fight bikini bar, but not in a courtroom

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published September 2, 2005

I support the folks who have been picketing the opening of a bikini bar at State Road 60 and Mount Carmel Road.

I'm not particularly opposed to the bikini bar, and I won't be joining the protesters. It's their American right, however, to take their outrage to the public.

All I ask is that you draw the line - pun intended - at protesting. Those who want legal action in the form of ordinances and new laws have forgotten the lesson of Mons II.

Yes, that Mons.

If you were living here in the early 1990s, you probably remember that adult entertainment king Joe Redner attempted to open a second version of his Mons Venus Nude Bar in an old SunBank (now SunTrust) branch just west of Falkenburg Road.

If you think the protests about the bikini bar are a bit much, you should have witnessed the brouhaha over Mons II.

Lock the doors and hide the children. Joe Redner is coming to town.

That was the lead paragraph in a St. Petersburg Times story on Feb. 10, 1990, and it pretty much captured the mood of the community. The reaction wasn't surprising, considering that some residents had rallied against a proposed Hooters.

There was a two-hour town hall meeting at the Brandon High auditorium that ended with Redner arguing with residents. There was a letter-writing campaign and an attempt by SunBank to buy back the building from Redner.

David Caton, then director of the American Family Association of Florida, went before the Hillsborough County Commission, asking that it adopt a new adult entertainment ordinance.

Sound familiar?

County officials reviewed the zoning restrictions, which prohibited an adult establishment from opening withing 2,000 feet of schools, churches and day care centers. Nothing in the area fit that description, but the Florida Suncoast Gymnastics Academy was there.

Maribeth Steinlen, part owner of the academy, hastened her plans to open a kindergarten at the site. This move helped give county officials the leverage they needed to stop Redner.

Or so they thought. A temporary injunction was filed to stop the club from opening.

Redner, of course, opened anyway. Television cameras captured the scene as dancers from the original Mons arrived at Mons II in limousines.

Two days later, Redner was arrested for operating within 2,000 feet of a school. He voluntarily shut down his club - increased police presence took its toll - and filed a countersuit against the county. The battle moved to the courtroom.

On June 21, 1990, Redner was found guilty of operating a nude club within 2,000 feet of a school, but he vowed to appeal. He had already been in court 10 times and spent nearly $30,000. Three cases were pending in state and federal courts fighting the closing of Mons II.

Mons II reopened in February 1992 while Redner's countersuits and appeals were still winding their way through court. In fact, Redner was in jail serving time for a separate conviction when new owner Edie Burns, a former Mons Venus manager, threw open the doors in Brandon.

The gymnastics academy and school had since closed, so the club was no longe r violating the zoning ordinance. And surprisingly, the fanfare, protests and TV cameras that highlighted the original opening were gone. A dancer told reporters that business was booming.

But it didn't last. Mons II closed, and Redner sold the property in 1993. A year later, he won his appeal and was awarded $230,000 in damages. The county appealed but dropped it in 1995 after Redner agreed to accept the $230,000 and not seek interest or attorney's fees.

Just imagine how we could have used that money to improve the community.

Being the lovable liberal that I am, I rarely grouse about "my tax dollars going to waste." But this five-year saga was far too expensive, and in the end, it didn't appear that this community was ever truly interested in supporting the place.

Since then, a lot has changed. A number of strip clubs have popped up farther west down State Road 60 in Tampa, and Hooters has a prominent location not far from the old Mons II.

Whether that means we're willing to accept this bikini bar, which isn't the same as the full nudity offered by Redner, remains to be seen.

The protesters see no difference and want to ensure that the bar fails. That's fine as long as they state their case on the street corner and not in the courtroom. If you're not comfortable with this small but vocal minority determining right and wrong for the rest of us, picket the picketers.

But ultimately, the silent majority will set the community's moral tone by patronizing the business or treating it like the plague.

The good thing is, that won't cost taxpayers a dime.

That's all I'm saying.

- In addition to Lunch with Ernest, Hooper is branching out to occasionally offer some opinions about life in the Brandon area. Let us know what you think. Ernest can be reached at 226-3406 or hooper@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 02:15:35]