COUNCIL MOVES TO CLOSE STRIP CLUB.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

For the second time in three years, the Los Angeles City Council moved on Wednesday to close down a nude bar in Tarzana, saying it is too close to a residential area.

But attorney Roger Jon Diamond said the Frisky Kitty, 18454 Oxnard St., will continue to operate and he plans to once again challenge the city's denial of a permit because it failed to suggest alternate sites to the owner.

``The courts have ruled the city violated the U.S. and state constitutions and I believe it will do so again,'' Diamond said after the hourlong hearing at which the council voted 10-0 to close the business.

City Councilman Dennis Zine, in whose district the business is located, said there have been numerous problems with the Frisky Kitty since it changed over from a bikini bar in 1999 to a club with nude performers.

``Disputes, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, battery, disturbing the peace. Those are just some of the things police have had to respond to,'' Zine said. ``This is not an appropriate location for a business of this type.''

Owners and workers at neighboring businesses also said there are continuing problems at the bar involving parking, drinking and prostitution.

The business was seeking a city permit to allow an exemption to zoning laws to operate in an area with homes less than 500 feet away. The business was ``grandfathered in'' from the time it operated as a bikini bar on a conditional-use permit.

Zine said he believed the city needed to deny the permit to send it back to the courts so the city's law prohibiting adult businesses from locating near residential areas is upheld.

``If we don't do this, it will have citywide implications where these businesses are able to open anywhere they want,'' Zine said.

Diamond, however, argued that it was up to the city to provide locations where the businesses could open and remain consistent with city laws.