Milwaukee strip club zoning proposal advances

A proposal to regulate where strip clubs can operate in Milwaukee has won the approval of the City Plan Commission.

The commission voted Monday to approve an ordinance that would prohibit strip clubs in all zoning districts except for the city's industrial light districts.

Strip club locations would be further limited in those industrial light districts, with clubs prohibited from operating within 300 feet of each other. Strip clubs would also need to be at least 300 feet from any residential zoning districts, homes, churches and other places of worship, licensed child care centers, and schools.

The proposal, sponsored by Ald. Jim Bohl, comes after years of legal battles between city officials and strip club owners over efforts to open locations in downtown Milwaukee.

In July, city officials approved a nearly $1 million payment to Silk Exotic. The approximately $970,000 payout to Silk came after Milwaukee's city attorney urged aldermen to authorize the deal to avoid further legal fees.

The zoning plan states that the intent of the ordinance isn't "to suppress any speech activities protected by the U.S. Constitution or the Wisconsin Constitution," but to enact legislation to further governmental interests of the city.