From today’s Tennessean:

Strip clubs and other sexually oriented businesses will not be allowed to operate within 500 feet of the Nashville Rescue Mission’s property after a recent decision by the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The decision marks the end of a five-year fight over the use of the building at 660 Lafayette Street, which for a time housed a gentlemen’s club called Stephanie’s Cabaret. The owner of the business, Stephanie Capps, obtained a building license but struggled to keep the adult business license after the rescue mission pointed out that it was zoned as a church.

Several appeals decisions related to the case issued Friday ruled that the mission met the definition of a church, so adult businesses couldn’t locate within 500 feet of the mission per Metro ordinance.

‘Ordinance on books’

“The main thing is, we just don’t want to come across like a pushy organization,” said Cliff Tredway, spokesman for the Nashville Rescue Mission. “There is an ordinance on the books, and we wanted it recognized so that the snowball effect wouldn’t lead to these businesses opening up all around ours. If we didn’t challenge that, they’d have people preying all around us on this group of individuals.”

The mission has always been registered as a church, Tredway said, and holds chapel services 365 days a year for the people staying there.

Since they offer rehabilitative services and what he calls life recovery programs, “it’s no help to have that type of temptation right across the street,” Tredway said.

Club opened 18 months

The adult club was open for about 18 months before going out of business, according to Capps’ attorney, Bob Lynch Jr.

Lynch said it wasn’t the location that was the problem; they were operating under a court order allowing them to operate before the case was taken to the appeals court by Metro government.

He blames the stringent rules the city employs against sexually oriented businesses, including a rule that prevents dancers from coming within three feet of customers.

“It’s not just the three-foot rule but also the licensing, where the young women have to go get the licenses that cost money, and the rule that affected the operating hours,” Lynch said. “I think that’s what Metro wanted. They’ve had an open warfare against adult entertainment for the last 15 years. They’re having difficult times.”