Florida beach town tells residents, visitors to cover up

By The Associated Press

10.06.02

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Attention, partiers: Cover up your flesh here or face a fine.

City commissioners voted 6-1 on Oct. 2 to approve an anti-nudity law requiring people to cover one-third of their buttocks and women to cover one-quarter of their breasts.

The ordinance goes into effect before Biketoberfest, a sometimes rowdy and raunchy party of motorcyclists, scheduled to begin Oct. 17. Nudity, particularly women exposing their breasts, has been an issue at special events such as Biketoberfest and Spring Break.

Violators can be fined as much as $500.

The ordinance does not apply to the beach, which is controlled by Volusia County. But beachgoers who opt for thongs or similar skimpy attire would be required to cover up within city limits, including the beachside business strip.

"I feel comfortable with this ordinance because it's not addressing the beach," Commissioner George Burden said. "We're regulating what's going to be on our streets."

Another enforcement target is adult nightclubs, particularly the Pink Pony and Molly Brown's, which feature nude dancers.

Gary Edinger, an attorney representing Molly Brown's, said the city ordinance would illegally stop constitutionally protected free expression in the nightclubs by forbidding nudity for profit. "I think it's overreaching and will get you in trouble in the courts," he said.

Deputy City Attorney Marie Hartman countered that merely dancing nude in a club is not free expression protected by the Constitution.

The club owners want to overturn the city's adult-entertainment zoning rules in a federal lawsuit. They were victorious in July when a federal judge ruled that the city fails to provide enough sites for nude dancing. City officials are appealing the judge's ruling.

Commissioner Charles Cherry, who cast the only dissenting vote on the nudity law, said the ordinance would prompt expensive lawsuits.

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