But it ain't that easy. Or, at least, not as easy as Little Darlings had anticipated, says Jay Brown, attorney for the strip club's owners.
The homeowners association for the neighborhood on the opposite side of the freeway voiced their disapproval after catching wind of the proposed billboard's enormous dimensions—34 by 36 feet (in all, about 1,235 square feet), and 80 feet up in the air.
"But let's be clear," says Brown: "The size is not the issue. The only issue today is the content." It's true. There are billboards of similar and even larger size along I-15 that advertise less erogenous products and thus encounter no resistance. And even Councilman Gary Reese, in whose Ward 3 the billboard would rise, says:
"It's the content I'm concerned with. I don't want to have a sign like that with naked girls."
Their problem is that some people are going to find it objectionable to see cleavage when they drive down the freeway with their kids, says Brown, who himself lives in the Scotch 80s neighborhood across the freeway from the sign, and who claims he can see only the very top of the pre-existing 85-foot billboards along the I-15.
Stephen Grogan, president of the Scotch 80s Home Owners Association, says that that type of content does not belong near residential neighborhoods. The Sun agreed in a February 6 editorial that stated the billboard would compromise "the integrity of their neighborhoods."
Reese, however, says it's about practical dangers:
"I'm worried about the traffic it will cause, the pile-ups." And: "There's a time and place for everything. And that's not it."
Hold on. Let's not kid ourselves here: We live in Las Vegas.
Sex is everywhere. Taxicabs carry pictures of Crazy Girls; ads in McCarran Airport are more arousing than lingerie ads.
"One thing you have to realize, though," says Brown, "is that [Lois] Tarkanian, the mayor and Reese are all up for re-election next year, and they don't need upset citizens screaming that they let sex get out of hand."
But Brown does not reproach the council, and has actually said that the city has been very fair and cooperative in their dealings with the strip club.
In fact, Reese says, the city and Brown have been working toward a mutual agreement by which the billboard would be permitted to go up provided that Little Darlings abides by content conditions yet to be determined.
In any event, we can be assured that conservatives will prevail. Little Darlings has made public the plan for the new billboard, an LED sign with the club's name, hours, and a picture of a woman's face and neck. Tame.
"The second major problem is that the city is worried about what happens if my clients sell the place," says Brown.
In that casee, the city will have no recourse.
"In the end, I can't control content on the billboard because of First Amendment rights," says Reese. "So it's either approve it in the first place or don't approve it."
The council is scheduled to vote on the matter at the February 21 meeting.