BY FREDA MIKLIN
STAFF WRITER
The City of Centennial is asking a court to “permanently enjoin (The Office-A Private Social Club) from operating…a sexual encounter center” in its city because it is a sexually oriented business located in the city’s Urban Center (UC) zone district. The UC zone district is a commercial and mixed-use zone district in Centennial and sexually oriented businesses are not a permitted use in that zone district.
In February 2022, Jean E. Smith Gonnell, an attorney representing, “The Office”, contacted the City of Centennial about the business, hoping to get the city to agree that the proposed use of the property fit within its definition of a Private Club, as it is defined in the City of Centennial Land Development Code (zoning code). Private Club is a permitted use in the UC zone district. Based on the description the attorney provided, which included the fact that The Office “will not be offering any sexually oriented business services,” but that it “will allow consenting adults to engage with one another, as they wish,” Centennial advised Ms. Smith Gonnell to “request an administrative interpretation of the proposed use” under the city’s Land Development Code.
In March 2022, the attorney requested an administrative interpretation, as advised. After reviewing that request, along with additional information the attorney provided, the city determined that the business did not meet its definition of a Private Club and advised the attorney accordingly, including the reasons for its ruling. One of those reasons was that the business was for-profit and Centennial’s rules require that a Private Club be not-for-profit.
Five months later, the city determined that The Office was operating as a “sexual encounter center,” and, in its court filing, has alleged that, “The Office promotes itself as an adult swingers’ club.” As evidence of the type of activity Centennial believes occurs at The Office, it offered a description of, “items generally used only for the purpose of engaging in specified sexual activities.”
On August 5, 2022, the city delivered a Cease-and-Desist Order to the attorney for The Office. Six months later, no response had been received by the city. Believing the business was operating in violation of the city’s zoning code, attorneys Jennifer C. Madsen and Robert C. Widner filed suit on behalf of the City of Centennial asking the Arapahoe County District Court to declare The Office to be operating illegally and order that it cease doing so.
All the information for this report was obtained from publicly-available documents. A website we were able to access lists events for The Office scheduled up to March 31, 2023, but we have no information as to whether it is still operating or the website has just not been taken down.
fmiklin.villager@gmail.com