MY EVERETT NEWS

I received a copy of the denial letter today from the Snohomish County Auditor’s office for Robert Noriega’s application to open a strip club on the Mukilteo Speedway at Everett’s Paine Field. Snohomish County Planning and Development Services division says the proposed club is too close to restaurants that serve alcohol by the drink. Noriega will now have 10 days to appeal that finding. Here’s the letter that outlines the restrictions…

Dear Mr. Noriega,
On June 7, 2011, this office received an application from you for an Adult Entertainment Dance Studio license at the proposed location of 10809 Mukilteo Speedway, Mukilteo, WA, situated in unincorporated Snohomish County.

SCC 6.01.040(4) states in part: “For those licenses or permits which require additional reviews or inspections for compliance with appropriate codes for building, zoning, fire and health or any other statute or regulation, each appropriate department director will, within 30 days after receipt of a copy of the application from the licensing authority, inform the licensing authority in writing of the results of their respective inspections and their recommendations as to the disposition of the application.”

Your application for an Adult Entertainment Dance Studio has been reviewed by all pertinent Snohomish County departments and offices. The Snohomish County Planning and Development Services -Zoning Division has petitioned this office and recommends your license be denied based on the fact there are two (2) current existing businesses serving alcohol by the drink within 660 feet of your proposed location. The businesses identified are the Sakuma Japanese Restaurant and the Lotus Chinese Restaurant. Both restaurants are located in the same business park at 10924 Mukilteo Speedway, Mukilteo, WA.

Specifically, SCC 30.28.015 states in part: “Adult entertainment must meet the following requirements:
(1) Adult entertainment businesses or uses are prohibited within the area
circumscribed by a circle which has the radius shown below from any
public or private school, preschool, educational institution, church or other religious facility, public or private park, youth oriented facility,
establishment serving alcohol by the drink…

(a) Adult entertainment book stores -330′;
(b) Adult entertainment dance studios -660′;
(c) Adult entertainment movie theaters -330′;
(d) Adult hotels -330′;
(e) Adult tanning salons -330′;
(f) Escort businesses -0′;
(g) Nude house cleaning businesses -0′;
(h) Panoram premises–660′;
(i)Public bathhouses and hot tub premises -660′;
(j) All other adult entertainment uses -660′.

(2) The distances specified in this section shall be measured horizontally by following a straight line from the nearest point of the building in which the proposed adult entertainment use is to be located, to the nearest point of the parcel of property, which contains a use from which the proposed adult entertainment use is to be separated and to the nearest point of a zone listed in “SCC 30.28.015(1 ).”

Enclosed is a copy of the Snohomish County Planning and Development Services petition. You may contact Holly Faller, Permit Supervisor at Snohomish County Planning and Development Services at 425-388-3311 ext 2668 if you have further questions regarding this petition and their recommendation for license denial.
SCC 6.01.070 states in part: “The petitioner shall file a copy of the petition with the licensing authority who shall promptly submit a copy of the petition to the applicant in person or by certified mail. The applicant may respond thereto in writing within 10 days of receipt of the petition. If the petition fails to set forth in detail alleged facts that show the issuance of the license/permit will result in a violation of the zoning or license/permit code, or violation of other laws, the petition shall be summarily stricken by the licensing authority and the licensing authority may direct the license/permit to be issued. If the petition does set forth such allegations, the licensing authority shall direct an investigation of said allegations and may deny the license/permit if the allegations are found to be true.”

You have ten (10) calendar days, upon receipt of this letter, to respond to this office in writing regarding these recommendations. At that time, this office will make a final decision on the issuance of your Adult Entertainment Dance Studio license. You will be informed of this office’s final decision in writing. If the final decision is to deny the license, you may appeal the decision to the Hearing Examiner. Appeals shall be filed and processed pursuant to the provisions of chapter 2.02 SCC.

In spite of reports in The Mukilteo Beacon and Facebook, that the license to operate an adult entertainment business called the Black Pearl has been denied by Snohomish County officials, the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office says the application is still being reviewed. I first reported about the Black Pearl application and the reasons why Robert Noriega decided to turn the Pointe After Lounge into a strip club back on June 11th. It seems the only people who can issue or deny a business license in unincorporated Snohomish County are the folks in the licensing department at the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office. I spoke yesterday with Vicki Lubrin who is the manager of the licensing office. She told me she just got back from vacation on Monday and the Black Pearl license application was being circulated thru various departments for their opinion on whether the license meets the county’s requirements and it would take a few days for that process to be complete. When I saw in today’s Mukilteo Beacon that Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon’s spokesperson said the application had been denied, I called Lubrin back and she said no, the application was still being circulated thru the various county departments. I then checked with the spokesperson, Christopher Schwarzen and he admitted that the folks at Snohomish County PDS said the proposed strip club was too close to two restaurants that serve alcohol and it would be the PDS recommendation that the license not be approved. So for now anyway, the license application has not been denied and is still going thru the process at Snohomish County. We’ll continue to follow this interesting story.

Black Pearl hopes to open July 1st at 10809 Mukilteo Speedway

He’s tried a Card Room, Mini-Casino, Karaoke, Teen Club, Live Music, Free Pool, Darts and Happy Hour Specials but local Everett Businessman Robert J. Noriega has yet to find the formula for success at his place on the west side of Paine Field. Next up, The Black Pearl, a strip club that he hopes will allow him to recover his investment in the property. I had a chance to sit down with Robert this afternoon and found him open, engaging and very upfront about the many different ways he’s tried to make a go of it since opening The Pointe After in 2009. He tells me he’s no stranger to west Everett and Mukilteo, raising a family and coaching at the Mukilteo Boys and Girls Club for the past sixteen years. Having exhausted most of the uses for the building, he says he plans on removing the liquor and beer and serving only non-alcoholic drinks. He built a stage, is applying for all of the necessary permits and plans to run a clean upscale club. He’s looking for a professional manager and while he knows that some people in Mukilteo will likely be outraged that a strip club is opening across the city-county line, he hasn’t received support from enough of the residents to make any of the other forms of entertainment he’s tried, profitable. Over the years there have been a string of businesses in that location that have come and gone. From its time decades ago as a tavern called Soft Sam’s, to then Big Sam’s and then a few other variations before undergoing a major remodel and becoming Cartwright’s American Broiler. Most recently it was Cherry Blossom Thai and Sushi before it became the Pointe After Casino and finally, the Pointe After Lounge, It does appear the location has been practically everything but a strip club.

Since it’s located in unincorporated Snohomish County, and fits within their zoning rules for adult entertainment, Noriega says there is little Mukilteo or Everett can do to stop the club. He tells me he’ll be a good neighbor, employer and local business owner. So the question becomes…Since its a legally permitted business under local laws and given the area’s economy, don’t we need all the local business owners we can get? Including legal strip clubs that are complying with zoning rules and all applicable laws? Plus the State and Snohomish County can really use the taxes and licensing fees the Black Pearl will generate. Good luck Mr. Noriega, it should be interesting to watch what happens.