City sanctions two downtown nightclubs

Two Las Vegas nightclubs were given second chances today after reported misconduct and code violations landed them, and their business licenses, before the City Council.

Snick's Place, on Third Street near the intersection with Las Vegas Boulevard, and Club 2100, a dance club near the intersection of Fremont Street and Eastern Avenue, will be able to stay in business, although the owners agreed that the city could shut them down if other violations pop up.

Snick's Place was already sanctioned by the Nevada Gaming Commission after the commission received a complaint of frequent nudity and sex in, and on, the bar. City documents recorded several incidents of the conduct in April, May and June 2008. The bar's gaming license was suspended for six months and a $50,000 fine was imposed.

Las Vegas council members were divided on the issue, voting 4-3 to impose an additional $15,000 fine and require a 14-day closure after the gaming suspension is up at the beginning of October.

Club 2100 received a smaller fine but a lot more criticism, with council members telling the owner, Dominic Laino, to take the requirements of running a nightclub more seriously.

The council voted 5-2 to impose a $10,000 fine, and the club's license will be reviewed every three months.

The city listed several problems with the club's operations, including frequent police calls, employees without proper work cards, offering live entertainment when it wasn't supposed to, advertising that suggested the club offered exotic dancing, and allegations that exotic dancing had actually taken place.

Laino disputed many of those contentions, arguing that police calls for service have decreased and employees without the right documentation have been fired. One of the photos in the city's records — of a woman on a dance floor exposing her genitals — didn't take place in his club, he said. And he said he's had DJs, not live entertainment, and that there was never exotic dancing.

Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese pointed to another photograph featuring two young women in bikinis splashing in an inflatable pool on the club's dance floor. That was from a "pool party" promotion in which women who showed up in bikinis got perks, Laino said.

"You don't call that live entertainment?" said Reese.

"I didn't know dancing and contests were live entertainment," Laino said.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.