A local businessman who fought Simi Valley in court for 11 years recently won the right to open an adult entertainment club in the city.

Philip Young was awarded $43,000 in damages and additional money in legal fees and court costs, which could bring the total settlement to over $100,000.

At issue was a city ordinance that made it illegal to operate a semi-nude club on Los Angeles Avenue, but the law was passed after Young had already applied for zoning approval.

Young proceeded to find another location that complied with city ordinances.

Young and his attorney, Roger Diamond, confirmed with City Attorney David Hirsch that the new location was legal. Diamond said they were told it was, but despite that assurance, the city denied Young a permit for the second location.

The city based the denial on two grounds. Municipal law prohibits nude clubs from opening near businesses that cater to children and from opening near institutions that are religious in nature.

A Bible school had been issued a permit to operate in the same vicinity where Young’s club was set to open.

Young filed a lawsuit and the case went to trial in 1997, ending in a hung jury. In a second trial, a judge ruled the Simi Valley ordinance was unconstitutional.

The city appealed to 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, but to no avail. An appeals court ruling against the city was upheld, as was an order for the city to pay $85,000 in attorney fees.

Young had sought $9 million in lost profits.

"I don’t think it’s a matter of claiming a victory," Hirsch said. "We certainly are pleased that the court did not award the millions Mr. Young was seeking."

A 1998 city ordinance that places strict limits on the interaction between club dancers and patrons also relegates clubs to the industrial areas of town, mainly on the west end.

If Young applies for a business permit now, Hirsch says that’s fine. "But he has to comply with our current ordinance."

The legal wrangling has cost the city over $430,000 in attorney fees, Hirsch said.