Male dancers are scheduled to be entertaining adults tonight at the Tailgate Bar and Lounge in the Bonnyville Hotel, only a few metres from the school next door, but will they be providing adult entertainment in an adult entertainment establishment?
That's the question Town of Bonnyville officials — if they show up — may have to ponder, given the recent direction from town council to look at enforcing Section 109 of the town's landuse bylaw.
The somewhat ambiguous section of the bylaw appears to limit just what type of entertainment is allowed within 225 metres of churches, schools, parks or playgrounds.
It reads: “Unless otherwise approved by council, an adult entertainment establishment shall not be located on a parcel having a minimum radial separation distance of less than 225 metres from the boundary of a parcel accommodating a public, separate, or private school, church, public park or playground or any other adult entertainment facility.”
The ambiguity comes from the fact the bylaw doesn't specifically define “adult entertainment establishment.” Could an “adult entertainment establishment,” for example, simply be a bar where no minors are allowed?
That's not the town's view, and wasn't the intent of Section 109 when it went into the bylaw in 2005.
Katherine Currie, the town's director of planning and development, said the wording of the bylaw was intended to address things such as exotic dancing and peep shows. She acknowledged the bylaw's lack of specificity on what constitutes adult entertainment.
“We don't have a specific definition for adult entertainment. That's one of the things we'll have to probably add in when we do our landuse bylaw review,” she said.
“This is our first time actually dealing with this section. It's been in our bylaw since 2005, but we've never had any dealings with it. We've never had any complaints. It's never come to our attention.”
In a memo to council that was written May 6, Currie noted the issue has produced inquiries from bars in the past, but once the setback regulations were explained, the inquiries were not pursued. More recently, events have been advertised.
“It has recently come to the attention of the planning department that several eating and drinking establishments in the downtown area of town are, or have been, hosting ‘adult entertainment' in the form of exotic dancers (male and female),” the memo reads. “We have been advised that these may be occurring a few times a month with advertising on local radio and signage at the businesses.”
Currie's memo goes on to say the adult entertainment setback of 225 metres from parks, churches and schools was included in the bylaw in 2005 because of concerns about having the activities in areas where children or youth might be in proximity at any time during the day. The setback was favoured by the council that passed the bylaw as a way of restricting adult entertainment to industrial areas and the west highway commercial area.
Council dealt with the issue at its May 11 meeting after first discussing it behind closed doors.
Enforcement of the bylaw had general support, though Mayor Ernie Isley registered his concerns with his colleagues that the bylaw was unfair to some bars relative to others because it didn't restrict the operations of some.
“I think it's a poorly worded,” Isley said.
Coun. Ray Prevost said the bylaw shouldn't be changed to accommodate individual businesses hosting adult entertainment.
Coun. Jim Cheverie noted the bar in the Bonnyville Hotel isn't the only one affected by the bylaw's provisions. While the hotel is adjacent to Bonnyville Off Campus School, the Black Gold Restaurant & Lounge, for example, is within 225 metres of the Centennial Centre, which sits on land designated for public parks.
The apparent fuss over a little live entertainment in her bar doesn't sit too well with Marlena Grenier, the bar's owner.
Grenier said the bar is conforming to all Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission rules governing its entertainment.
“We have to follow all AGLC rules, so we don't have any nude dancing at all because we have video lottery terminals,” she said.
The bar has promoted bikini girls and male dancers to date, along with comedians, a hypnotist, bands on Tuesday night, but no one is going nude, and women aren't going topless, she said, noting the AGLC's rules only allow nudity in establishments without VLTs.
The male dancers show some flesh, for sure, but dancing, beefy men without shirts aren't a problem for the AGLC in a bar — even one with VLTs.
“Adult entertainment, to me, would be strippers, which we don't have,” Grenier said.
She said her establishment is trying to offer weeknight entertainment that would otherwise have to be found in Cold Lake.
Its popularity thus far has been mixed. While the bikini girls promotion was fairly quiet, she said, the male dancers have drawn mostly female crowds in the 60 to 100 range.
Grenier agreed the bar itself could be viewed as adult entertainment — but if that's the case, we should consider how long it has been in its location.
“It was here before the schools were here,” she said.
