DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — The state Senate on Tuesday voted to put time and distance restrictions on strip clubs in Ohio — restrictions that club owners said could put them out of business.

"We can't afford to lose more jobs or more liberties," said Luke Liakos, who owns Baby Dolls in Medway and helps operate Diamonds Cabaret in Washington Twp.

The bill, approved 24-8, prohibits sexually-oriented businesses from staying open between midnight and 6 a.m. Businesses with liquor licenses could stay open during those hours but could not offer sexually-oriented entertainment.

The bill also requires nude or semi-nude performers to be at least six feet away from customers on a stage at least two feet off the floor.

Also, the bill prohibits performers from touching customers or their clothing or touching anybody else who is nude while in the view of customers.

The bill was proposed by an initiative backed by Citizens for Community Values, the Cincinnati-area group that led the successful campaign for Ohio's ban on gay marriage in 2004.

The group submitted petitions with more than the required 120,000 signatures to the secretary of state. The petitions were forwarded to the legislature which has four months to act. If lawmakers don't pass the bill, the group can gather 120,000 more signatures to put the proposal on the November ballot.

The House would act by the end of this month, said Karen Tabor, spokeswoman for House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering.

Last year, the legislature enacted a law giving townships more authority to regulate the clubs but didn't include the time and distance requirements. "This is the final piece of the puzzle we need," Barry Sheets, director of governmental affairs for Citizens for Community Values told a Senate committee earlier Tuesday.

Angelina Spencer, a former stripper and executive director for the National Association of Club Executives, asked at the committee hearing if the state would issue "double-length yardsticks" to police to enforce the law.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or

whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.