A recent Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting saw the unanimous approval of new rules for adult entertainment businesses operating on unincorporated county land.
Among the measures passed on June 6 was the directive that sexually-oriented establishments must now close at 1 a.m., empty their parking lots by 1:15 a.m., and remain closed until after 10 a.m.
These were the first changes made to the rules governing sexually-oriented businesses since 1990. The initiative to further regulate them was triggered by reports that Temptations Cabaret in West Tarrant County was becoming a growing danger to the public.
Located off I-30 near the Parker County line, Temptations is one of several adult clubs and restaurants owned by RCI Hospitality Holdings across the country.
Texas is home to many of its establishments, including a dozen in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and a number of them gained the attention of the local authorities, according to KERA News.
On May 30, the state filed a public-nuisance lawsuit targeting Temptations, calling it a “haven for crime” that “wreaks havoc on the community near the club and strains the resources of law enforcement and first responders,” according to the DMN.
Running from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Wednesday to Sunday prior to the recent rule change, the adult club had been in the crosshairs of locals for years.
It was able to avoid some regulations by not having a liquor license and asking onlookers of its fully nude shows to bring their own alcohol, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“We’re not judging the moral virtues of any business,” explained Derek Burt, president of the Lost Creek Estates Homeowners Association located half a mile from Temptations, according to KERA News. “It’s just the violence that came along with it.”
Prior to the lawsuit, Commissioner Manny Ramirez said that he put Temptations on the agenda after learning of a double stabbing that landed both victims in the hospital, according to WFAA.
Authorities were also called to the club a few weeks later when a customer was kicked out and allegedly shot and injured three people in the parking lot. He was shot and killed by a security guard.
“And the residents now are so grateful,” Ramirez said, according to WFAA. “They are so happy, and they are so relieved that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel now where they don’t have to worry about gunshots at five in the morning. … They don’t have to worry about getting their kids up for school at 5 a.m.”
Another change made by Tarrant County Commissioners during their meeting was to the conditions surrounding the issuance and revocation of permits for adult clubs such as Temptations.
The previous rule focused on prostitution and sexual assault rather than criminal activity, Ramirez pointed out.
“It didn’t have a provision for murder, which we’ve had several of at this location in the last several years,” Ramirez said, according to the DMN.
Alongside the lawsuit, Temptations is on the agenda for a Commissioners Court meeting on June 21.
“The intent of that meeting is to present evidence to revoke immediately the permit,” said Ramirez, according to WFAA.
When a similar regulation enacted by the City of Dallas last year sought the closure of adult clubs from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m., business owners filed a lawsuit in federal court, as The Dallas Express reported.
Alongside questioning the constitutionality of a law targeting sex-oriented clubs alone, the lawsuit alleged that the businesses in question would suffer revenue losses and this would hurt their employees.
