October 11, 2004
D.C. landlord: Stadium a drag
At least one Southeast D.C. property owner says he plans to file a court challenge to the city's plans to seize private property to clear the way for an Expos baseball stadium. "I have the money and the resources to challenge the city, even if I have to go to the Supreme Court," Bob Siegel, owner of several buildings in the gay nightclub district that would be demolished for the stadium, told the Washington Blade. A lawyer for the D.C. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union added that if the adult entertainment establishments are forced out and not given an opportunity to relocate elsewhere in the city, that could also be challenged in court on civil liberties grounds: "If the zoning rules are drawn in such a way that there is no place left for them, the courts can overrule that."
The threatened businesses, according to the Blade, include two nightclubs, a gay porn movie theater, an adult video arcade, and "the Zeigfeld's nightclub, known as the city's preeminent showplace for drag performances." Which raises another question: How much tax revenue is D.C. currently getting from these establishments, and shouldn't this be counted as an additional cost to the city if they're forced out of business, or out of town?
