Webcam business plan in former Las Vegas strip club rejected

Clark County commissioners rejected plans for a webcam business in a shuttered Las Vegas strip club Wednesday.

Sam Aldabbagh, whose decades-old strip joint, the Can Can Room, saw its business license revoked last year after Las Vegas police arrested two women on suspicion of soliciting prostitution there, had filed plans to rent out private studios for live streaming in the club.

He also wanted a studio that would let “aspiring and professional exotic dancers” create dance videos, county records show.

The proposal came after the Can Can Room’s new landlord, The Siegel Group, sued Aldabbagh last year, claiming he ran an illegal brothel there and refused to vacate the property at 3155 Sammy Davis Jr. Drive, behind the under-construction Resorts World Las Vegas.

‘Horrendous allegations’

Aldabbagh’s legal team has said in court papers the landlord made “a slew of horrendous allegations” without evidence and sought to “unjustly terminate” his lease.

The Clark County commission heard the proposal for the webcam business on appeal, following a denial early last month by Nancy Amundsen, director of the county’s comprehensive planning department.

Commissioner Tick Segerblom, whose district includes the building just west of the Strip, said at Wednesday’s hearing he believes “there is no change in the business” proposed for the space, adding county staff found the prior operations to be in “violation of our code” and “illegal.”

Before the vote, Thomas Boley, an attorney for Aldabbagh – whose name also has been spelled as AlDabbagh and Aldabagh – cited the license revocation and the litigation.

“We have a $13,000-a-month rent payment, so we’re looking for an alternative business to put in that unit,” Boley told commissioners.

He said the proposed business would use the club, including stages and poles, for an “adult camera service” and would be closed to the public.

Siegel Group general counsel Sean Thueson told the panel that the landlord “obviously” does not support the proposal, and the business is not allowed under the Can Can Room’s lease anyway.

“This is really just a subterfuge,” he said.

Steven Cohen, a lawyer for the Can Can Room, told commissioners that none of the alleged criminal acts in connection with the strip club have resulted in charges from the district attorney’s office.

7-0 vote against

Commissioners voted 7-0 to uphold Amundsen’s rejection.

Siegel Group founder Steve Siegel acquired the 62,000-square-foot commercial building that housed the Can Can Room and other tenants last May. His firm sued Aldabbagh through the property’s holding company Sept. 5, alleging he ran an “illegal business” there in violation of state law and his lease.

The case remains open.

The Can Can Room’s business license was revoked Sept. 25. Aldabbagh appealed the decision, seeking judicial review. That case also remains open.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.