Plans emerged to redevelop two former strip clubs in Oakland Park after the city government won a 30-year legal fight to close the clubs.
Local developer Amos Chess and his business partner Don Deitchman plan to develop a mid-rise apartment property with ground-floor commercial space at the former Pure Platinum strip club at 3411 North Federal Highway.
City development applications show that the Bahama Breeze Caribbean restaurant chain plans to open a location at 3339-3347 North Federal Highway, where the old Solid Gold strip club operated.
Chess agreed to buy the old Pure Platinum location after the prior owner withdrew lawsuits against the city government.
The city went to court to shut down Pure Platinum after it opened in 1987, but a judge sided with the club, ruling that the city must allow nude dancing there.
In 2004, the city banned the sale of alcoholic beverages at strip clubs with nude dancing and ordered an end to physical contact between patrons and performers.
But both Pure Platinum and Solid Gold responded by filing a lawsuit, which led the city to settle the case by suspending enforcement of its drinking and touching rules for 11 years. Under the settlement, Solid Gold was supposed to close by November 2015 and Pure Platinum could remain open if it complied with the city rules.
Both strip clubs sued Oakland Park in 2015 and subsequently combined their operations at the Pure Platinum location.
Earlier this year, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city by determining that Oakland Park could restrict strip-club activities.
Michael J. Peter, the operator of the combined strip club, moved its location to Pompano Beach, where it opened in mid-June under the Solid Gold name. [Sun-Sentinel] – Mike Seemuth