NEWPORT NEWS — Across the Warwick Boulevard from the Tom & Ann Hunnicutt Family YMCA is the Katt Bikini Bar and Grill, a beige colored building with a robin’s egg blue sign.
While it seems like the bar itself is run down, it is very much alive.
“An adult entertainment establishment, by definition is any establishment where live performance, display or dance of any type, which has a significant or substantial portion of such activity or, when considered as a whole, has as its dominant theme or purpose, any actual or simulated performance of sexual activity, removal of articles of clothing or appearing unclothed,” according to the city’s code of ordinances.
The club has been operating in the city for years and it’s not the only adult entertainment venue around.
Club Paradise II Gentlemen’s Club and Sports Bar, off Jefferson Avenue, Headlights Gentleman’s Club and JB’s Gallery of Girls near Fort Eustis also operate within city limits.
So what are the rules regarding these type of venues?
Strip clubs, otherwise known as adult use, nightclubs or adult entertainment venues, are allowed in commercial zoning districts and must be more than 500 feet away from certain establishments such as a school, church, park, playground or library property, a residential property on the same street and another nightclub. In addition, the venue must be located “more than 200 feet away from a residential zone when not fronting on the same street,” according to the municipal code.
Kim Lee, spokeswoman for the city, wrote in an email strip clubs are not allowed “by right anywhere in Newport News.”
“They are allowed by a City Council approved conditional use permit only and only in commercial zones,” Lee added. “The permit, if granted, would stipulate the conditions that must be met to obtain and maintain the permit.”
“City Council has not issued a permit for an adult use business, and current adult use businesses in Newport News were operating prior to the conditional use permit requirement, which was added to the City Code in 1996,” Lee said.
Skip Ferebee, spokesman for the YMCA, wrote in an email the gym moved from 32nd street in downtown Newport News to its current location in 1971.
WYDaily reached out to The Katt Bikini Bar and Grill multiple times and they were not immediately available for comment.
It is unclear when the Katt Bikini Bar and Grill opened across the street from the YMCA.
