Bikini baristas are now on one county councilman's radar

EVERETT — Drive-through espresso huts featuring nearly nude baristas should be treated more like strip clubs than coffee stands — at least that’s how Snohomish County Council Chairman Mike Cooper sees it.

Cooper wants to close what he considers a loophole in county code that allows the risque stands to operate in the open.

“I’m going to stop talking about bikini huts and start talking about nearly naked,” Cooper said last week. “Our code allows them to wear bikinis. There are some people who think we ought to do something about bikinis. We can’t.”

Currently, a business in Snohomish County is considered adults-only if 25 percent or more of its business comes from adult entertainment or products. In theory, that wouldn’t apply to coffee stands, even if patrons are attracted for other reasons.

Cooper equated that with an “unenforced R-rating.”

“I would say they’re marketing other things besides coffee, so we’ll take out the 25 percent loophole,” he said.

His regulatory plan would allow the county to restrict visibility from the street and sales to minors. It would include a transition phase, since many of the controversial coffee huts sit outside the designated industrial areas zoned for adult entertainment. Adult zoning would only apply to new businesses, while interim zoning would apply to existing businesses outside those areas.

Everett leaders, faced with the same issue within the city, have looked at regulating the stands by sharpening the city’s lewd conduct laws.

Everett City Council members on Wednesday unanimously passed an ordinance making it more difficult for bikini-hut baristas or other employees at drive-up windows to bare too much skin.

The updated ordinance defines the stands as public places where lewd conduct, including women baring their breasts, shouldn’t take place.

The law change came shortly after baristas working at an Everett Grab-n-Go espresso stand on Broadway were charged for violating the city’s laws against prostitution, which include displaying parts of the body normally covered by underwear, in exchange for money.

County councilmen also are working on sharpening the county’s lewd conduct rules.

But Cooper said targeting the issue through law enforcement has limitations. Police generally have to catch people in an illegal act, he said. That stops individual employees, but not the business that condones the behavior, he said.

If the proposal passes, the new licensing rules would fall under the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office, which regulates adult businesses such as strip clubs and adult book stores.

“With the budget cuts that we’ve had, I honestly don’t know if it would be at the top of our list,” Auditor Carolyn Weikel said. “I don’t know where it’s going to fit it into our workload.”

Last year, her staff included three inspectors, but that has been narrowed to just one employee who works with an array of pet businesses, pawn shops, bathhouses, dance studios and adult businesses.

Cooper didn’t think there would be much extra work; he knows of 20 or so bikini coffee stands, but estimated only about 10 are a problem.

An official draft of the proposal should be ready by this week, Cooper said. It is likely to be December or later before the County Council can act on it because work on the county budget is expected to last through late November.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.