FORT WORTH, Texas — A Tarrant County strip club with a reputation for violence will lose its business permit, a special board decided Wednesday.
Officials targeted Temptations Cabaret for closure after one person died and three people were hurt during a May shootout in the parking lot.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office arrested 57 people at the club between 2020 and 2022, it said.
In the same timeframe, more people called 911 from Temptations Cabaret than from the other ten bars or nightclubs in unincorporated Tarrant County combined.
"We don't stand for activity like that," county commissioner Manny Ramirez said. "If it's a public safety hazard to our citizens, we're going to stand up and do something about it."
But the fully nude strip club, which has been closed since May, won't lose its business permit because of the violence it's hosted.
Tarrant County's sexually oriented business board on Wednesday allowed the county to revoke Temptations' right to operate on grounds that the facility is too close to nearby homes.
Under an ordinance set in the 1990s, strip clubs cannot do business within 1,000 feet of a Tarrant County residence. A grandfather clause previously exempted Temptations Cabaret from that rule.
But the club failed to renew its permit on time, as recently as 2022. The tardiness forced its operators to apply for a permit as a new business, voiding the grandfather clause.
The Tarrant County Administrator's office permitted Temptations' operations anyway, despite its proximity to nearby homes.
"Our due diligence was incomplete," retiring administrator G.K. Maenius said Wednesday. "My office made a mistake."
Maenius said nearby residents' complaints about the facility hadn't escalated to his office.
After the shootings, his office "re-examined" the club's paperwork and moved to revoke the operation's license.
The sexually oriented business board, which hadn't met for years, upheld the decision.
County commissioners appointed one member each to the previously vacant panel. Officials swore in the committee minutes before Wednesday's hearing.
"Before this, we didn't pay that much attention," Ramirez said. "Now, it's on our radar."
Ramirez, a retired Fort Worth police officer who still serves as a reservist, said he remembers responding to calls at Temptations Cabaret a decade ago. He is not on a crusade against sexually oriented businesses, he said.
"All of these business owners should be on notice and understand that you better play by the rules," Ramirez said. "You better not cause a public safety hazard to our citizens. Otherwise, we will be looking to shut you down."
Because Temptations Cabaret does not have a liquor license, it must remain closed without its sexually oriented business permit.
Attorneys for the club's owner said they could appeal the board's decision in district court, but hadn't yet decided whether they would.
The Tarrant County District Attorney said he will still pursue a separate public nuisance lawsuit against the club, despite its closure.
Temptations Cabaret's owner has not responded to WFAA's request for comment.