Dear Community,

It’s been a while since we updated here on the website, but from your emails, calls and face-to-face meetings at neighborhood events, we know that this topic is still one that generates strong feelings and determined resolve on your parts.

As those of you who have reached out to us know, our efforts continue and we know that your vigilance continues also.

What follows is a long and comprehensive post bringing everyone up to speed:

It’s now been almost one year since our community began this fight. And despite early predictions from the club’s representatives, our opposition hasn’t blown over or been forgotten.

The overwhelming sentiment we are hearing expressed time and time again is that people feel that their reasonable requests for restrictions on the club’s operating permit should be heeded. There is enormous concern that the findings of the Hearing Examiner’s report be upheld.

Among suggested restrictions, those that we hear time and time again as being most important to you are:

1. That hours of operation should be restricted from 7pm to 12am on weekdays and from 4pm to 1am on Saturdays and Sundays
2. That there be NO SIGN on the property indicating the Club usage (suggestions of a small, brass plaque by the door have been made)
3. That the minimum age for a patron be raised to 19
4. That the SKIN Club police the surround area each morning to remove condoms and other paraphenelia
5. That the SKIN Club hire a bonded, licensed, independent private security firm to provide regular security patrol of the area during business hours and up to 1 hour after the club closes
6. That the Club engage in active dialogue between the owners and community leaders

We continue to advocate for these reasonable requests, and want you to know that your voices are being heard.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Below are some answers to your most frequently asked questions:

What happens now?

On Wednesday October 15th, there will be a further hearing on this matter in front of the Police Permit Review Panel.

The hearing will be held downtown at Parker Center, as before, and begins at 2:30pm. Parker Center is located at 150 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles 90012.

If you are interested in attending, and need a parking spot, please email the following information to victor.durazo@lacity.org no later than Tuesday 10/14 at Noon.

Subject: Strip Club Hearing
Name of driver
Type of car
Year and color of car
License plate #

The City Hall Parking is at 201 N. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles 90012. Entrance is across the street from Parker Center.

What is this hearing about?

As posted below, the Police Permit Review Panel recommended at the last hearing that the Hearing Examiner, Mr. Mac Neil, should conduct an additional hearing into the specific concerns about crime and ownership that were raised by the community attorney, Mr. Pat Harris.

A small group of community leaders and our attorneys attended this additional hearing, and spoke on the community’s behalf. Complete details of the hearing can be found in Mr. Mac Neil’s second report. You can download that report here.

As you will see, Mr. Mac Neil agrees that there are significant questions about ownership and has recommended that the club’s owner, Mr. Woo Suk Yang, present himself in front of the panel on October 15th to answer questions.

We continue to be hopeful that we may eventually actually see or hear from the owner of this business, although to date the club has only ever been represented by his attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, and by his son, Stanley Yang (owner of Silver Reign on the WestSide) who attended the Hamilton Hearing.

What seems to be the issue? Is the panel asleep at the wheel?

This is a question we are hearing time and time again. We share your concerns, and find ourselves equally amazed that the Panel has not yet acted in accordance with the recommendations of the Hearing Examiner they themselves have appointed to hear the case and make recommendations. Our concerns have been well documented and supported, and we know that the club continues to have a history of behaving with a “selective” approach to city codes and rules.

We wish we had a better answer to this question, and remain hopeful that the Panel and the City Attorney will do the right thing in this case.

Has the club been breaking rules?

• In July, many of you called and emailed about the giant illuminated moving billboard advertisement that the club has been using, particularly when it was parked in front of the club at Earl Scheib, clearly circumnavigating city codes that require permitting for temporary signage, and causing significant additional distraction to drivers at a DANGEROUS intersection.

Thanks to your vigilance and efforts and a concerted writing campaign to Earl Scheib, we were able to ensure that the billboard is no longer parking in front of the club.

• Also in July, we heard from a number of you that the club was illegaly housing staff in a building they lease on Ellis Avenue (to the rear of the club.) Upon checking City records, we were able to verify that the certificate of occupancy for this building did not allow any residential use. The club was cited by Building & Safety and ordered to stop all residential use and undo the un-permitted dwelling unit they had created on the second floor. We agree with you that a “dwelling unit” which can be accessed through the back door of the club without ever being seen is not a good idea for an all-nude establishment, particularly one which has close and questionable ties to other clubs where prostitution has been a repeated problem.

We thank the hundreds of vigilant eyes, ears and cameraphones that continue to watch the club and inform us of their activities.

• The neighbors immediately surrounding the club in Regent Square continue to regularly complain about finding used condoms and other adult materials on their sidewalks. Several reports have been made to Pacific Police Division, and we continue to monitor these incidents closely.

Neighbors tell us that they have found three times as many used condoms in the last year than in the 10 years prior to the club’s opening. Why should these residents pay the price?

• Female employees who work at some of the businesses on Ellis Avenue behind the club have complained of being sexually harassed by club patrons on their way to and from their cars.

In one incident, a woman and her young daughter were the recipients of this unwelcome attention. Needless to say this is also of serious concern to us all.

So what happens next?

We attend the hearing on October 15th, and continue to put faith in the system which was created to protect and serve us.

BUT, we also acknowledge that this may be a long war, and although battles may be lost along the way, our proximity to the club and widespread level of continued concern makes us strong.

We’re not going away, and we’re not going to stop watching, listening, documenting and reporting.

With the economic downturn and impending recession, we’d be surprised if the club manages to stay in business over time, particularly with the poor reviews it receives online.

Can we picket the club?

Many of you have repeatedly raised the option of sustained, organized protests with Police protection outside the club.We know that many of the religious communities in our neighborhood have expressed interest in organizing their congregations for this purpose.

While this has not been our first choice of approach to date, it may become our strongest card moving forward. It’s hard to sustain a successful business in the face of such public protest.

Is there legal recourse open to us?

If we have reason to believe the the City of Los Angeles has not carried out its responsibilities as it should, this is always an option, and one that we continue to discuss with our attorneys.

Why are you so worried about this club and not all the other problems that we face?

We’re worried about those too. And we’re active in the community across the board. Many of us form part of your neighborhood council, and spend many hours volunteering on a monthly basis to address safety, crime, blight, “broken windows”, education, health, outreach and many other avenues of community concern. It’s not that we’re only concerned with this club, but we proudly admit that we tremendously concerned about our community, and that it should continue to grow and flourish in the best possible way. We feel this club poses a threat to that goal, and our collective efforts are a measure of the commitment we have all made to be proactive in our communities.

What can I do? I’m not prepared to give up on this…

We hear you, and agree with you. Here’s the good news:

This election year has brought out a strong sense of community responsibility and engagement in people across the country. People feel activated and determined to write their own destinies, not accept status quo. As community activists, we feel this on a daily basis. And we encourage you to get involved. It’s very, very hard to continue to deny the power of a motivated and activated community who is not afraid to raise its voice, or fight for its sanctity.

Our community remains galvanized on this issue, like no issue before. From our collected efforts to date, untold new connections and partnerships have been formed between residents, business owners, parents, teachers and neighborhood groups and as a result, we are stronger than ever before.

If you’d like ideas for how you can become more involved on this issue, and others facing our community, please email us.

Thanks for reading to the end. As always, we look forward to hearing from you and seeing you speak out to protect the place that you call home.

Dear Community,

The Police Permit Hearing regarding SKIN strip club that was rescheduled for 2nd April 2008 has just been canceled again.

The Police Review Board have confirmed, per our request, that they will not reschedule the hearing for April 16th out of respect for our Jewish community members and their preparations for Passover. The earliest it would be rescheduled would be April 30th, but we will confirm as soon as we know.

While this is very frustrating for us, it gives us more time to get the word out and try to rally our community attendance at this CRITICAL hearing. We had not received a lot of emails confirming attendance for this date, and so perhaps we can do better for the next date. Our community has made such strides in this case, and so far we’ve been very successful. It’s a shame to drop the ball at this late stage, so we’re hoping the extra time allows us to turn out a larger crowd.

The reason for the cancellations is that Roger Jon Diamond, attorney for the strip club, is involved in a complex and lengthy murder trial and has requested another continuance. You can read more about that trial here.

Please spread the word to your community and ask people to sign up for email updates for continuing information.

N.B. Please, please, please remember to re-register your email address with the new email server we are using in order to continue receiving updates. Our old server was blocking emails from being sent out, and we’re now building a secure list at the new server. Simply re-enter your email address on the right hand side. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Because our subscriber list has grown so rapidly, we’ve had to upgrade to a more reliable email system.

If you have already signed up for email updates, you should have recently received an email asking you to reconfirm your address. Since we are shutting down the old system, it’s important that you click the confirmation link in the email.

Please do this ASAP, as news is changing rapidly and we want to keep you up to date.

If you haven’t received the confirmation email — or if you haven’t yet signed up — you can join the new list by entering your email in the column at right.

The Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission’s Permit Review Panel has turned in his report. This report is a result of all the letters you’ve written and all the statements you made at the hearing on January 28th.

And we can hardly have hoped for more…

Our community’s concerns were heard and comprehensively reflected in his report (click to download the report).

As you will read, the Hearing Examiner recommended that the 7-member Police Permit Review Panel deny the club’s operating permit. Furthermore, if they decide that the permit cannot be denied, he recommends numerous stringent conditions on the permit, including:

• Limited operating hours: 7pm-12am weekdays and 4pm-1am on weekends.
• Adequate on site parking
• No sign on the property indicating usage
• ID scanners with cameras
• Entertainers to be classified as employees
• Club to provide adequate clean-up of area
• Club to engage security firm to patrol during business hours and up to one hour after closing
• Minimum age requirement of 19 to enter
• Move entrance of the club to the side of the building
• Club provide Commission with names and addresses of all owners of the club
• Name and phone number of manager be posted prominently in the club
• Club to provide insurance policy naming City of Los Angeles as additional insured and/or bond to cover any damage or injury that may occur
• Patrons and staff to be given Breathalyzer (PAS) test prior to entering.

On Wednesday 19th March at 2:30 pm the 7-member Police Permit Review Panel will consider this report and hear arguments from both sides at Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles. To ensure that the Panel thoroughly considers each of the Examiner’s recommendations, including outright denial of the permit, our community’s attendance is critical.

Wednesday 19 March, 2:30pm
Parker Center Auditorium
150 N. Los Angeles Street, 90012

This hearing is where the decision will be made, and although the report appears very favorable, we can absolutely count on the fact that the club’s lawyer, Roger Jon Diamond, will fight each and every restriction for all he’s worth. If you were at the hearing on January 28th you will have heard him tell the Examiner that he expects the permit to be granted with “NO RESTRICTIONS.”

We cannot afford to sit back at this critical final stage. Although the time and location of the hearing may be inconvenient, this is a standing panel meeting that we cannot change. However, we’re working hard to see if we can provide free buses from the neighborhood to the hearing, and to help organize carpooling and free parking downtown.

We’re doing everything we can to get the word out, but your help is essential. Please send this information to your friends and neighbors. If you (or they) are unable to attend, please write a brief letter addressed to the Police Permit Review Panel indicating your endorsement of the report’s findings. We will be happy to deliver all correspondence to the Panel at the hearing on the 19th. You may mail your letter, no later than March 15th to:

Reynier Village Neighborhood Association
1800 S. Robertson Blvd., #107
Los Angeles, CA 90035

or fax to (310) 837-3325.

We’re in the home-stretch now, and we’ve done so well. Let’s keep up the pressure and bring this home.

We’ve just heard that the date has been set for the 7-member Police Permit Panel to rule on the operating permit for SKIN.

The hearing will take place on Wednesday 19th March at 2:30pm.

The hearing will be held downtown at Parker Center. Although it is during the work week, we strongly urge everyone to attend. It is vitally important that we’re there in force to continue to represent our position. Based on the turnout and extent of community opposition at the last hearing, the Police Commission have cleared the schedule of all other items that day, and moved the hearing to the Auditorium to accommodate 200-300 people. We expect a lot of media coverage and we need to turn out a crowd. We will have the opportunity to comment directly to the panel before they make their decision. Let’s not forget what impact we had the last time our community turned out.

The Hearing Examiner has made his report and recommended restrictions, but we can count on the fact that Roger Diamond will be fighting each one. At the January 28th Hearing, we all heard Diamond state that he expects the permit to be granted to his clients with no restrictions at all. We need to be there to show the panel that our community is not giving in.

We’ll be posting more information in the coming weeks. We’re working on arranging parking for the community downtown, setting up carpooling from the neighborhood and disseminating information about what the Hearing Examiner has recommended. As soon as we know more we’ll be posting it here.

In the meantime, please make note of the following information and share it widely with your friends and neighbors.

Police Permit Hearing
Wednesday 19 March, 2:30pm
Parker Center Auditorium
150 N. Los Angeles Street, 90012

And if you haven’t yet signed up for updates, please do that now. With the clock ticking on this fight, it’s important that we are able to reach you all as quickly as possible whenever there is news.

We got lots of news coverage at last night’s meeting, thanks to the amazing turnout our community showed. South Robertson, you did yourself proud.

Click the links below to see the highlights.

Watch video of Channel 2 and 9
or click here to listen

Watch video of Channel 11
or click here to listen

Read coverage at popular Los Angeles blog, LAist.com

And finally, check out our newest neighbors, courtesy of Fox 11 News.

What a shame that none of them were brave enough to stand up and introduce themselves to the enormous crowd who attended the hearing. Frankly, they didn’t do themselves any favors by leaving their PR up to Roger Jon Diamond.

Interestingly, out of the approximately 600+ people who attended the hearing, the one and only person who spoke in favor of the club can be seen sitting at the end of the row of owners (on the far right).

It’s true: sometimes pictures speak louder than words.

This evening at 7pm at Hamilton High School is the community’s chance to be heard.

SKIN may have been open since December, but they have not yet been granted their final permit from the Police. Because of the hundreds of letters that you’ve written, the police have scheduled this special hearing. It’s been scheduled for one reason only: to hear your concerns.

Over the past four months, many of us have volunteered literally hundreds of hours to educate ourselves on how we can respond. The No Robertson Strip Club steering committee and many others have worked tirelessly to research and present the best arguments on behalf of the community-at-large. We’ve met with Councilmen, talked to neighborhood prosecutors, met with Vice detectives, raised money, retained lawyers and poured energy, talent and funds into reaching out to the community.

Tonight, we’ll be handing the hearing examiner the fruits of our labor: a comprehensive report outlining the reasons we believe SKIN’s permit should be denied, as well as the extensive restrictions we recommend if the permit is granted. Restrictions we believe will best mitigate the nuisance they pose to our community.

Tonight is our chance to make a difference. The truth is that businesses like SKIN hold most of the advantages; they are well funded and well represented by slick lawyers, and they count on the fact that communities won’t stand up against them. They thrive on our apathy.

Let’s show them that our community is different. Let’s take a stand. Let’s show up tonight in force. Let’s overflow the auditorium at Hamilton. Let’s put up a fight. We may or may not be successful, but let’s give it all we’ve got. Let’s make ourselves hard to ignore.

Tonight is our chance to have an impact. Let’s not take it for granted.

We really hope to see you there. Bring your kids, bring your neighbors, bring your friends. Rain or shine, we’re counting on your voices.

Don’t let us down.

“The location of a former meat market has re-opened as a strip club and neighbors don’t like it one bit. They’re up in arms over the club which is located on South Robertson, near the 10 Freeway. Jeff Michael was at the club’s opening night.”
Click here to watch
Click here to listen

A solid report from Fox News, although the reporter was mistaken about one key point: the Club has opened without materially addressing any of the community’s concerns.

CBS-TV 2 reporter Mary Beth McDade recently reported on the community’s efforts to stop the proposed South Robertson strip club. WATCH the clip here or listen to the report.

Note: video requires the latest Flash plugin.

Strip club is planned near bondage parlor

Despite opposition by L.A.’s Regent Square residents, it has received a temporary city business license.
By Martha Groves, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2007

For residents of a tiny pocket of the South Robertson Boulevard area of Los Angeles known as Regent Square and for nearby business owners, the slogan of the moment appears to be: Better the X-rated business you know than the one you don’t…Full L.A. Times story (or you may download a .pdf copy here.)

Comment: On Sept. 14 L.A. Building & Safety ordered building owner Levi Litmanovich to stop all construction work and to provide a survey that the strip club is located more than 1,000 feet from any other Adult Entertainment Establishment (Sec. 12.70 C; Sec. 12.70 D. of L.A.M.C. ). It is our understanding Mr. Litmanovich, CEO of Golden West Trading and apparent operator of Culver City Meat, now intends to remove seven feet from the building to circumvent comply with the law.