Seattle to vote on strip club restrictions

SEATTLE, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Seattle residents will vote sometime next year on a referendum that would impose restrictions on strip clubs, a report said Tuesday.

The City Council-proposed plan comes in the wake of a court ruling that found Seattle's 17-year ban on new strip clubs is illegal.

King County, Wash., election officials have certified there are enough voters' names on petitions to have the referendum that, among other things, would require brighter lights, tip jars and a 4-foot space between strippers and the audience, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

Strip club operators said they hoped the vote would be delayed until November 2006 to allow time to educate citizens on the referendum.

Mayor Greg Nickels recently proposed zoning laws that would require new strip clubs to be located in an industrial area near Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners.