Following the Georgia Supreme Court’s ruling Monday that the city of Brookhaven can regulate sexually-oriented businesses, the city is going to court to get the Pink Pony strip club to follow its rules.
City Attorney Thompson Kurrie on Oct. 8 drafted a request for a DeKalb Superior Court order that would require the club to obey a city ordinance that says sexually-oriented businesses cannot serve alcohol.
That means the club needs to obtain a valid sexually-oriented business license from the city, close at midnight, order its dancers to refrain from completely nude dancing, and not serve alcoholic beverages if the dancers are semi-nude.
“I am pleased that the Georgia Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, has ruled that the city of Brookhaven’s ordinance governing sexually-oriented businesses is in fact constitutional and that the city is not bound by a previous deal that the Pink Pony had with DeKalb County,” said Councilwoman Rebecca Chase Williams in a statement.
A lawyer for the Pink Pony, Aubrey Villines, said the club will contest the high court’s ruling. “We will file a motion for reconsideration with the Supreme Court,” he said, and “will continue to be open to discussions with city.”
Villines referenced a neighborhood survey that he says showed 74 percent of residents wanted the city to leave the club alone.
“I would hope that the City Council would do what the constituents want them to,” he said.
Williams says the city isn’t trying to shut the Pink Pony down. Instead, it wants it to operate in compliance with the city’s ordinance, she said. “Contrary to what you may think, the Pink Pony will not be forced to close under our ordinance,” she said. “Rather, the business can continue to operate with erotic dancing consistent with city ordinances.”
