Strip club debate haunts Fall River revitalization

Industrial parks are a possible site

Paul Viveros, owner of Oliver's, says the industrial park is the right place to put strip clubs. "No one lives in the industrial park." (Christine Hochkeppel for the Boston Globe)

FALL RIVER - As an older city striving for revitalization, Fall River has some valuable assets.

It has a 500-acre industrial park, which has attracted manufacturers, warehouses, and corporate offices. The state has promised to build a $70 million interchange on Route 24 to improve access to the park.

Five miles south, the city's historic Taunton River waterfront and the Battleship Cove tourist attraction have gotten a boost with a new boardwalk. And plans are moving forward for a commuter rail station nearby, as well as relocation of state Route 79, which cuts across the district.

But these prime locations have been targeted by businesses that local leaders want no part of: strip clubs.

The owner of Oliver's nightclub at the entrance to the industrial park is locked in a long-running legal struggle with the city for the right to feature nude dancing. Earlier this year, two clubs near the waterfront, the Regatta, next to Fall River's Heritage State Park, and Davol Street Station applied for nude-dancing licenses, though Davol Street Station has since dropped its request. Less than two miles south and east of the historic district, a Swansea businessman is fighting with the city for a nude-dancing license for a club that would be located in an industrial building in a business zone.

Economic development officials worry that the establishments could derail Fall River's revitalization efforts.

"I think it's a disaster," said Stephen C. Smith, executive director of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, the Taunton-based regional planning agency for the south coastal region. "I am trying to plan the development of a train station integrated with new waterfront development and a redesigned highway and there's this specter of a cluster of strip clubs in the heart of it."

Kenneth Fiola Jr., executive vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, said businesses in the industrial park do not want a strip club at its entrance.

"Obviously, many of the businesses have invested millions of dollars in their properties," Fiola said. "The potential of having that kind of facility there is seen as a detriment."

Fall River does not have an official zone for adult entertainment, which has had the effect of opening almost all of the city to the potential siting of sexually oriented businesses. Courts have ruled that nude dancing is a protected form of free expression, and cities and towns cannot ban it completely. But the courts have allowed municipalities to use zoning to restrict adult businesses to specific areas. Many Massachusetts communities have established adult entertainment districts in remote and undesirable sections.

Prompted by the flurry of applications for nude-dancing licenses, Fall River officials are now considering establishing an adult entertainment district. City planning director James K. Hartnett said his office is studying the options, but a formal proposal, which would require City Council approval, is not imminent.

Whether strip clubs are harmful to economic development is a matter of some debate. They generate revenue and employment, and draw visitors to an area, but such clubs also clash with many people's sense of morality and spark concerns about attracting undesirable and dangerous elements of society.

Judith Lynne Hanna, an anthropologist at the University of Maryland, said well-run strip clubs can be good for surrounding businesses and have helped some cities attract tourists and convention-goers.

"If you have a four-star upscale club, it is going to be an economic stimulus for other businesses. I've seen it all across the country," said Hanna.

Fall River planning director Hartnett said evidence he has seen indicates strip clubs harm business areas. He said most club customers view the establishments as destinations and they are unlikely to patronize other businesses.

Paul Viveros, owner of Oliver's, said the industrial park is the best place in the city for strip clubs. "No one lives in the industrial park," he said. "There are no schools or churches. For the most part it closes at 5 p.m."

Of the claim that a strip club will invite problems, Viveros said, "For the last hundred years there has never been a strip club in Fall River, and yet we already have drugs and crime and prostitution."

Darrell West, a political scientist at Brown University, has surveyed attitudes toward adult entertainment in Providence. He found moral concerns outweigh economic issues for most people. Providence has almost a dozen clubs, the largest concentration in New England.

West said strip clubs have hurt the image of some sections of Providence and made it harder to attract other kinds of businesses to those areas. "It hasn't tarnished the image of the city as a whole," he added. "The Providence renaissance is alive and well."

Robert Preer can be reached at preer@globe.com.