A promised City Hall look at tightening the rules on Bourbon Street strip clubs has quietly been shelved after the New Orleans City Council yanked the very request that started it. The move halts a short-term push to decide whether new adult live-performance venues in the French Quarter should be capped or forced to seek special permissions.
Planning Commission Backs Off Study
The City Planning Commission confirmed it is no longer working on a report about limiting or otherwise regulating clubs on Bourbon Street after the council pulled its request, according to NOLA.com. The motion had asked planners to examine whether future adult live-performance venues should face extra hurdles and then report back to councilmembers. Staff had even lined up a chance for public comment before the item quietly disappeared from the agenda.
Councilmember Freddie King, who had led the short-lived zoning push in January, formally withdrew his request in a March 23 letter, which in turn prompted the commission to stop the review, according to Verite News. The reversal came on the heels of a March 10 commission meeting where dancers and other stakeholders urged officials not to cap the number of venues. Reporters noted that King’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the change of heart.
Council’s Fast Flip
The whole saga follows the council’s brief January move to create a temporary zoning district that would have forced any new Bourbon Street clubs to seek conditional-use permits, a requirement that can be both expensive and uncertain. That measure lasted less than three weeks before the council rescinded it amid fierce criticism from workers and performers, according to Axios New Orleans. The whiplash left City Hall arguing over whether to chase longer-term changes or simply stick with the current licensing playbook.
Performers and club staff who showed up at City Hall framed the withdrawal as a win for both their paychecks and their safety. “I’m glad they reversed their decision,” dancer Jessie Colburn told reporters during the debate, according to NOLA.com. Industry advocates also reminded officials that dancers organized in 2016 and mounted large protests after enforcement actions in 2018, a history lesson about how quickly policy moves in this space can trigger a public backlash.
Past Raids Still Loom Large
State enforcement raids in 2018, billed as an effort to root out trafficking, led to citations and temporary closures for several clubs but did not result in trafficking convictions, a record that critics say punished workers more than predators, according to reporting by Verite News. The broader question of how to handle adult venues is not new for city planners either. The City Planning Commission produced an Adult Live Performance Venue study after a 2016 council motion (M-16-22) that specifically asked whether the number of such businesses in the Vieux Carré should be limited and how they ought to be regulated, according to City of New Orleans records.
What It Means For Bourbon Street
For now nothing changes on the ground. Bourbon Street clubs can continue to operate under the existing mix of permits and licenses while politicians argue over what, if anything, should come next. Advocates on both sides say they are not going anywhere, which means another round in the long-running fight over French Quarter nightlife may be only a single council motion away.
