Owners decide to move to undisclosed location
Faced with weekly citations, police stakeouts and ongoing
litigation with the City of Gilroy over the battle to force its
closure, the owners of The Forum adult social club have decided
enough is enough.
On Thursday, in an e-mail announcement to its members, the
club’s owners and operators let their patrons know that they were
planning to vacate the club’s current site on Monterey Road.
Owners decide to move to undisclosed location
Faced with weekly citations, police stakeouts and ongoing litigation with the City of Gilroy over the battle to force its closure, the owners of The Forum adult social club have decided enough is enough.
On Thursday, in an e-mail announcement to its members, the club’s owners and operators let their patrons know that they were planning to vacate the club’s current site on Monterey Road.
“It won’t be in the city of Gilroy, I’ll tell you that,” said The Forum owner Deena Luce just hours after the announcement.
Luce refused to specify when or to where the move would take place.
Since moving to Gilroy on August 16, the couple-swapping club set off a legal chain of events but has continued to operate despite being told by the city numerous times to cease its operation.
For the previous two and a half years of its nine-year existence, the club operated from a house in unincorporated Santa Clara County outside of Morgan Hill near Railroad and Tennant Avenues.
In September, the city’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have shut the controversial club down was denied. Earlier this month, by a 7-0 vote, the city council adopted an amendment to an existing city code regarding the regulation of adult businesses.
It was passed in order to give the city one more weapon in its ongoing fight to shut down the club.
The amended portion of the code entitled “Prohibition” read: “It shall be unlawful for any person to use any premises for a sexual encounter establishment or establish or operate a sexual encounter establishment in any zoning district of the city.”
At the present time an order to show cause hearing is slated for November 12 at Superior Court in San Jose.
“At that time, the judge can order the business to cease until there’s a trial for a permanent injunction,” said Assistant Gilroy City Attorney Jolie Houston.
In the meantime, arraignments will take place at the South County Courthouse in San Martin every Tuesday this month and next for several of the citations that have already been issued to the club’s owners and manager.
The Forum is open Friday and Saturday nights from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. and charges between $40 and $60 for admission. On Friday nights, it is open to singles and on Saturday nights the club caters to couples with a swinging lifestyle.
