Lawsuit pits owner of land where strip club sits with Orange County after club owner arrested

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A new lawsuit is pitting the owner of the land where a strip club sits against  Orange County and its tax collector.

It comes after the owner of the club was arrested and accused of human trafficking.

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The fight centers on land on Orange Blossom Trail where a troubled strip club is located.

The strip club owner, general manager, assistant manager and manager of Flash Dancer are accused of allowing a girl as young as 15 to dance in the strip club.

Because of the criminal charges, a county ordinance allowed the tax collector to revoke the business license.

Read: Deputies: 4 arrested after 15-year-old girl danced at strip club in Orange County

The issue now is whether the property owner should be allowed to use the land again as a strip club.

A county ordinance says no, but the property owner is fighting it in federal court, alleging that the county’s ordinance allowing this is flawed.

The county is moving forward with a process to strip the landowner of how they can use this property, which had been grandfathered in with old county rules.

Read: Orange County Tax Collector moves to revoke license for troubled Orlando strip club

Attorney Steven Mason represents the landowner.

“You tell me where there’s a law in orange county where a real property owner, adult entertainment, can be held accountable for something a tenant has done,” Mason said.

The property owner has filed a federal complaint alleging that the county’s codes regulating adult entertainment are unconstitutional.

They claim the county failed to provide any formal notice to the real property owner that a license and use of the property would be suspended, revoked or extinguished based on allegations of misconduct or criminality.

Read: Attorney says Orlando strip club is a danger to the community

However, the notice was sent to the strip club owner revoking the license, citing county code violations.

That same code also gives the county the authority to terminate the land use upon revocation of the adult entertainment license because the establishment is non-conforming to current zoning rules.

“The value of this property is probably diminished by 75-80 percent if they divest and take the use, surely not going to take the use without a fight,” Mason said.

According to the lawsuit, the landowner had removed the strip club owner as a tenant prior to his arrest. And a new license for the address was refused.

The county tax collector said they are just following the law after an investigation revealed the alleged human trafficking of a 15-year-old.

The county itself told me it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

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