Council bill would curb
BYOB clubs

By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

The city may take the booze out of BYOB teen and strip clubs, and also may prohibit dancers under 21 from performing there.

Under such a bill, an Ala Moana Neighborhood Board member told the City Council yesterday, authorities could crack down on violations of underage drinking at bring-your-own-booze clubs.

Larry Hurst said he has seen a waitress at Babes in Paradise exchanging money for beer with customers in front of the BYOB club and minors consuming alcohol inside.

But club owner Warren Colazzo, contacted later, said, "That's a total lie." Customers order liquor by phone, go outside to pick up the order and the store delivery person checks everyone's identification, no matter how old, Colazzo said.

Councilman Andy Mirikitani, sponsor of the bill, said BYOB clubs are open from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and "institutionalizing large-scale parties every weekend" among 15- to 17-year-olds by having adults bring in liquor.

Kelly Rosati, executive director of the Hawaii Family Forum, would like to see the bill pass so women under 21 would be prohibited from nude dancing in such clubs.

"It's a way young girls are lured into prostitution," Rosati told the Council.

Colazzo told a reporter the city would run into legal problems if the bill becomes law, contending it discriminates against 18-year-olds.

Although strip bars fall under the Liquor Commission's jurisdiction and prohibit dancers under 21 from performing, BYOB establishments sidestep the law.

"This was sort of a new concept -- a strip bar that doesn't serve liquor," said Lori Nishimura, deputy city prosecutor. Nishimura said no law regulates nude dancers under age 21 in no-liquor clubs.

This is why Mirikitani believes the bill is essential. He also wants to curb underage drinking, rid neighborhoods of undesirable elements, and prevent further spread of the red light district areas to outlying areas.

The bill passed a second vote by the City Council along with Bill 55, which allows law enforcement officials to shut down any business, including massage parlors, with three prostitution-related offenses.