Exotic Dance Debuts In Bellevue -- Bikini Venue Opens After 4-Year Battle

BELLEVUE - For the first time in more than two decades, Bellevue is home to an erotic-dance club.

Babe's, a not-quite-topless not-quite-tavern, opened its doors in Factoria yesterday after a four-year battle to obtain permits.

Young women in revealing lingerie danced on two stages and, for fees of $10 or more, performed private dances at customers' tables and in a darkened "slow-dance room."

The city's zoning code does not allow nudity at the club because it is within 660 feet of a residential neighborhood. Babe's does not serve alcohol.

"The good guys finally won," the owners' attorney, Gilbert Levy, said with a laugh.

Neighbors had tried to block the club's opening since 1990, when owners Johnny Zahran and David Ebert first sought permits from King County. The Factoria area was annexed last year by Bellevue, which last week issued Babe's a cabaret permit.

"I'm disappointed. I worked for four years to try to do what I could to not have it open and did not have the tools necessary to do that," said Susan Allen, a neighbor and a leader of an opposition group, Not Babe's.

"Knowing it was going to open, we just wanted it to be as unobtrusive as possible."

The business got off to a rocky start, legally speaking. Assistant City Attorney Lori Riordan notified the owners yesterday morning that they had failed to take care of two legal requirements: registering to collect admission taxes and meeting with

representatives of the Police Department and the Not Babe's group.

Riordan warned the owners they could face civil and misdemeanor criminal penalties if they opened before complying with the law.

Within hours, the owners moved to rectify both problems. The club registered early yesterday afternoon to collect admission taxes. And Ross Radley, attorney for the property owners, told Riordan their failure to call a meeting was inadvertent and he offered to set up a meeting as soon as possible.

Allen said the club's first-day legal goofs were not reassuring. "It's interesting that they started off in violation," she said. "What does that say to you?"

Levy said, however, there is no reason to believe the business at 12402 S.E. 38th St. will create neighborhood problems. It does not serve alcohol and, Levy said, "My clients intend to operate the business in a responsible manner and in a way that will not be harmful or detrimental to the neighborhood."

Babe's is a stone's throw from the site of the Bavarian Gardens, a topless tavern that closed in the early 1980s, after topless-dance magnate Frank Colacurcio was sentenced to federal prison for underreporting receipts at the tavern and at a Federal Way establishment.

One of the Babe's owners, David Ebert, is a longtime Colacurcio associate. Ebert is owner of Rick's, a Lake City strip club, and is a partner with Frank Colacurcio Jr. in a topless club recently approved in Kent.

Colacurcio Jr., who manages Sugar's strip club in Shoreline, was sentenced to federal prison along with his father in 1991 for failing to pay income tax on profits from two nightclubs in Alaska.

Babe's attorney Levy declined to say whether the Colacurcios are involved in the new Bellevue club.

The last erotic-dance establishment to operate in Bellevue was Harpoon Louie's, a tavern that lost its liquor license shortly after three dancers went topless in late 1972.

The owners of Babe's, billing their establishment as a "performing-arts club," have not applied for an adult-cabaret license. City officials said the club will be closely watched to determine if it is subject to the adult-cabaret law.

A license is required for an establishment that features nude or topless dancers or any performance that "is intended or is likely to sexually stimulate" customers. Although key parts of dancers' bodies were covered - barely - dances on the Babe's stages yesterday could hardly be called anything other than sexually provocative.

Two dancers who previously worked at strip clubs in Seattle said they welcome the opportunity to keep their clothes on. "I think we're going to be appreciated more for our artistic ability," said a dancer who identified herself only as Jimmi.

Bellevue's adult-cabaret law allows dances no closer than four feet from a customer. At least one "table dance" yesterday was performed extremely close to a customer.

Factoria Center Investments, owner of the Babe's property, has filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court claiming the adult-cabaret ordinance is unconstitutional.

Two other adult-entertainment clubs have been proposed in Bellevue: a Deja Vu nude-dance club where the Hunan Chef now stands at 425 116th Ave. N.E., and adult performances at Papagayo's Cantina, 2239 148th Ave. N.E.