Fort Wayne’s only swingers club could shut down if ordinance passes
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Fort Wayne’s only swingers club may be shut down if Fort Wayne City Council approves two new ordinances. The bills will be introduced to council on Tuesday.
Last year, the City of Fort Wayne found itself in a lawsuit when they stopped a strip club from reopening and were sued. In the process, city administration found they had some vulnerabilities in their laws concerning sexually oriented businesses.
Fort Wayne’s attorney Carol Helton has drafted two ordinances that would regulate and license these businesses. The first one would ban live sex act businesses such as swingers clubs.
“We are only aware of one swingers club that is currently operating in Fort Wayne and that is the Champagne Club,” said city spokesman John Perlich. “These types of establishments do not enjoy the first amendment protection afforded to strip clubs and cities may ban them. There have been other swingers clubs prior to the Champagne Club and the City doesn’t want any more of these types of businesses to open.”
The Champagne Club is located on the city’s southwest side at 2710 Nuttman Ave. City administration’s belief is that these businesses contribute to disease and should be considered a public nuisance.
The second ordinance being introduced would establish procedures and policies for licensing constitutionally protected sexual businesses such as strip clubs.
“Well it depends on how you look at them I guess,” said councilman John Crawford. “A lot of people in the community feel like it’s a bad influence on the city to have clubs like that. Some people say it’s not hurting anybody, don’t worry about it, but I think the majority of people in Fort Wayne would like us to at least regulate the number of these type of clubs, where they go and what hours they can operate and try to keep them under control.”
There won’t be a discussion on Tuesday’s council meeting, just a reading of the ordinances into the record. A discussion on the ordinances could occur at City Council’s meeting on Aug. 6.