Swingers Club Too Much for Sin City
May 10, 2009 by Couples Click
Swingers club too much for Sin City?
The owners of a high-profile Toronto swingers club are looking to bring their controversial business to Windsor, but one local adult entertainment club owner is reluctant to welcome a partner-swapping venue to the city.
Wicked Club, Ontario’s only on-premises swingers club, is looking to open a location in Windsor within a year to address high demand in the area and the United States, co-owner Shlomo Ben Zion said Monday.
“I do get a lot of people from Windsor coming to us and saying please open something there,” said Ben Zion, adding his club boasts 13,000 members. “And because the (laws) are more rigid in the States, I predict a lot of people would be crossing the border to go to our club in Windsor.”
But Rob Katzman, founder of Katzman Enterprises, which runs several downtown Windsor adult entertainment venues, said he would not collaborate with Wicked Club or allow swinging in one of his clubs.
‘WE’RE INTIMIDATED’
“The truth is, we’re intimidated by the idea,” he said.
“We’re not sure a swingers club has a place in Windsor. It may have a place in Toronto, but not here.”
Although the Supreme Court ruled that consenting adults who engage in sexual activities such as partner swapping, voyeurism and exhibitionism behind closed doors are not committing indecent acts — thus legalizing swingers clubs — Katzman said he is committed to respecting the views of Windsor police and city officials.
“I’m a family guy and I wouldn’t know how to explain it to my family. I wouldn’t know how to explain it to the (police) chief or the mayor. These are relationships that mean the world to me and I don’t want to compromise them,” he said.
Since the December 2005 Supreme Court decision, operators of swingers clubs have reported increases in memberships and calls from people of all backgrounds. Wicked’s membership swelled and new clubs popped up in Montreal and Vancouver.
“I now have to turn people away on Saturday nights,” Ben Zion said. “It’s gotten crazy since swingers clubs became legal.”
Wicked’s membership list has grown so long it will be moving to a larger, “more sophisticated” location in Toronto at the end of the summer, he said.
“Then we can start seriously looking into locations in Windsor.”
But Ben Zion and his wife and business partner, Aurora, should not expect a warm reception from city officials and Windsorites, said Windsor Coun. Fulvio Valentinis.
“Are we going to put out a welcome ad and welcome it with open arms? I don’t think so,” he said. “I’m certainly not anti-business but the bottom line is … I don’t see the benefits to the city, but I can certainly see the downside.”
Valentinis said Wicked is unnecessary in a city that already has an established adult entertainment industry. He said a number of zoning and adult entertainment bylaws would likely be used to restrict the club’s size and business practices.
Diane Sibley, the city’s licensing commissioner, said it’s difficult to determine what types of legal issues would arise if a swingers club opened in Windsor.
“Of course, we don’t regulate morality, so it wouldn’t be illegal,” she said. “But we’d have to look and see whether it violates any of our adult entertainment bylaws, if there were issues of indecency and whether it crossed into a Criminal Code violation.
“I’m not naive enough to think that we don’t have (underground) swingers clubs already, but they normally fly with a lot of discretion.”
Ben Zion said Windsor, like most bigger cities across Canada, probably has a lot of private swingers clubs that meet in hotel rooms and members’ homes.
Katzman said local swinger groups have asked him to stretch the rules in his clubs and bars, but he refused.
“Of course, as a businessman, I’ve thought about the financial opportunity,” he said. “But I wouldn’t venture into anything like this without consulting with the city.”
Katzman said his Wild Orchid Club on Chatham Street throws parties for couples who like to watch partially nude dance performances together, but he does not allow any sexual activity on the premises.
Ben Zion said Wicked is not strictly a partner-swapping club, but rather a place where “sexually curious” people can have a good time.
“The name swinger is kind of catchy … but not all people that come to my club are swingers. They are exhibitionists. It’s not right to say that it’s only a swingers club. We get a lot of sophisticated, professional people.”
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