Athens might be getting its first strip club. Some are opposed to the idea, but the controversy has not only revolved around some citizens' dislike of such a venue; it has also been whether or not the proposal for the strip club has been legitimate. Is the applicant serious, or is this just a ploy to get zoning laws changed? Athens residents have been asking that question since it became known that someone had applied to put a strip club on Stimson Avenue, where the New-To-You Shoppe used to be.
Applicant Chris Stotts certainly seems to be serious ' he has even hired a lawyer.
However, if it should all turn out to be a mere tactic to get zoning laws changed in Athens so that Pro Rentals, Inc. can put apartments there instead, it will be to the disappointment of the many Ohio University students who wonder why Athens does not yet have a strip club. With such a high number of college-aged males, and with a local business teaching college women how to pole dance, it seems a strip club would fit. It would also give OU students another option to celebrate 21st birthdays ' especially with the proposed BYOB policy. Not that Athens lacks venues to celebrate coming-of-age by getting drunk, but hey, a change of scenery is always nice.
It could all just be a sneaky and underhanded way of increasing the number of over-priced apartments and continuing to exploit poor college students, which landlords in Athens do so well. In that case, shame on Pro Rentals, Inc. and Stotts for getting students' hopes up, annoying residents needlessly and lying to the city about their true purposes. If, however, Stotts is the real deal, let what will be, be ' if the strip club is truly unwanted, it will fail, and all this fuss will have been for nothing.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the executive editors.
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Assuming the strip club proposal isnG
