LAKE FOREST : Nude-Dancing Club Vetoed by Council

More than 150 angry citizens showed up at Tuesday’s City Council meeting ready to do verbal battle with Mark Bailey and his plans for a nude-dancing club.

The only problem was Bailey didn’t show. But it didn’t stop dozens of citizens from vilifying Bailey and his proposed adult cabaret, anyhow.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the council turned down his request for an exception to the city’s moratorium on adult businesses, which is in place until a permanent ordinance can be adopted.

The vote was 4-0, with council member Kathryn McCullough not present because of a potential conflict of interest. McCullough is pastor of a church near the cabaret site at 20562 Regency Lane.

Neither Bailey nor his lawyer, John H. Weston of Beverly Hills, attended the meeting. City officials said Weston called to say he and Bailey would not appear.

Residents who overflowed the Council Chamber into several side rooms of City Hall took their shots regardless.

“Mr. Bailey has no morals,” Leah Weis said. “I feel his establishment would be a blight on Lake Forest.”

Bonnie-Lee Harnden told the council, “I am totally against Mr. Bailey opening another one of his filth joints in the city.”

City Manager Gaylord Knapp had recommended against Bailey’s application, saying the shopping center where the 6,000-square-foot club would be located has woefully inadequate parking.

Also, the shopping center is less than 1,000 feet from a church, the Whiting Regional Wilderness Park and a popular hiking and riding trail, city officials said.

In a past letter to the city, Bailey said restaurant guidelines for parking--which require fewer spaces than the theater parking standards applied by the city--should be used.