Q:
The world-famous Palomino Club in North Las Vegas turns fifty this year. Somewhere I heard that when it was founded in 1969, the license allowing fully nude dancers in the presence of alcohol -- unique in the Las Vegas area -- was good only for 50 years. Do you know if that's true? And if so, what are the chances of it being renewed?
A:
[Editor's Note: For this answer, we naturally turned to Arnold Snyder, manager and content provider of our sister website,
ToplessVegasOnline.com.]
Many states, counties, and cities in the U.S. have laws prohibiting strippers from removing their g-strings in venues that serve alcohol. I don't know the origins of this regulation, but somewhere, some time, for some reason lawmakers all over the country became simultaneously convinced that men who were drinking booze would cause trouble if they saw women completely naked.
You're correct that Palomino Club in North Las Vegas was grandfathered into its unique license that allowed it to continue featuring nude dancing, despite having a full bar. The club opened in 1969 before the law disallowing nude dancing in establishments that served liquor was enacted and thanks to the Palomino's good reputation, the club was permitted to legally continue operating as it had been. But the decades rolled along and the 50-year allowance period that you cite was coming to an end -- this year.
I'm happy to report that Palomino Club has already had its license renewed to continue as the only gentlemen's club in the state of Nevada that serves alcoholic beverages and allows fully nude dancing. What's more, there's no expiration date on this permit.
The owner/general manager, Adam Gentile, who took over the club about 12 years ago, petitioned the city of North Las Vegas to have the only "nude + booze" license in the state renewed. Gentile had to appear before the City Council, police review board, fire department, county commissioners, state auditors, IRS, FBI, CIA, NSA, and about a dozen other agencies (okay, I'm exaggerating slightly), all of which sent investigators to the club to drink alcohol and look at naked women. All concluded that despite getting boozed up, none of the investigators felt any violent tendencies. In fact, a few turned into regular customers.
So the Palomino remains the only strip club in Nevada where you can watch naked girls prance around on stage while enjoying a cold beer or a Sex on the Beach.
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