CU student aims to open topless café in Boulder
By Amy Bounds (Contact)
Monday, July 6, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder’s Dan Kennedy wants to open a coffee shop — but instead of competing with the likes of Starbucks by offering specialty drinks, he wants to steam up basic coffee and pre-packaged pastries with topless waitresses.

He’s looking to open a shop in August, one day a week in the morning.

Kennedy — who said he will be a sophomore at the University of Colorado in the fall after transferring from Whitman College in Washington — has placed ads on Craigslist for bouncers and women willing to work topless, saying he’s interviewing three women and three potential bouncers Friday. He’s offering to pay the women $80 to $100 for a morning.

But he said he’s still researching the steps he needs to make the cafe legal. He also needs a location. His ideal spot would be a conference room at CU, though he’s also looking on University Hill.

By offering only drip coffee and prepackaged food, he said, “There’s no license and no regulations.”

But, CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said, there are strict regulations governing businesses on campus — plus a student code of conduct that would prohibit operating an adult business at the university.

He said students can rent conference rooms for “normal campus activities,” such as study groups. Bottom line, he said, a topless coffee shop “is not going to be allowed.”

“This is a half-baked idea,” he said.

Kennedy said CU students are a big part of his target audience, and he’s considering charging a $12 cover fee to avoid attracting a crowd just looking to ogle the waitresses.

His job listing for the bouncer says the employee “will be checking IDs to make sure they are 18 plus. Making sure topless girls feel safe and no inappropriate behavior from customers.”

He acknowledged that some people likely will object to his risque business venture.

“It’s probably going to cause a pretty big stir,” he said.

A controversial topless coffee shop in a rural Maine town drew national attention — and was burned down in June by an arsonist after just four months in business. Before the fire, the owner had received 150 applications for 10 positions.

Locally, a strip club off the Pearl Street Mall that opened in late 2007 drew concerns from zoning and building-code officials soon after it opened. The city recently looked into ways to regulate adult businesses before they opened, but the Boulder City Council has yet to agree to any changes.

The city’s options include using zoning rules to limit where such establishments could open. Some cities, for example, forbid strip clubs from doing business within 1,500 feet of a church, school, child-care center, park or other adults-only venue.

The city could decide to issue licenses to strip clubs instead, a process that could resemble the way liquor licenses are handed out now.

Mayor Matt Appelbaum said it may be worth looking at the zoning regulations and giving the community a chance to offer feedback.

“Our regulations don’t really preclude these businesses,” he said. “There clearly are locations where they are not appropriate.”

City Councilwoman Susan Osborne said she doesn’t want the council to spend time on the issue, adding that she hasn’t seen much of a market for strip clubs and similar adult businesses in Boulder.

“There are so many big things going on right now,” she said. “This would just be a distraction.”