“There’s a reason people don’t want these types of establishments in their neighborhoods and it’s really too close to suburbia,” County Councilman Brian Sullivan said.

Sullivan, County Executive Aaron Reardon and others said they worry that even a legally run gentleman’s club would attract alcohol abuse, drug use and prostitution. That would put a burden on Mukilteo police, Sullivan said, “with no direct return from property taxes or sales tax.”

Last week, Reardon sent the County Council a memo urging them to adopt stricter zoning restrictions and to give the county more discretion to deny adult business applications.

The club is proposed for 10809 Mukilteo Speedway, a highly visible spot on a route that most people travel to reach Mukilteo. Opponents say it’s close to the Mukilteo Library, schools and youth centers, though they’re all outside the 660-foot adult-business buffer spelled out in county code.

Noriega’s application was still pending Tuesday. A decision is likely later this week, county licensing manager Vicki Lubrin said.

Noriega said he’s not a bad guy, just somebody trying to run a successful business. He’s raised two children in Mukilteo and coaches youth sports. Criticism of his adult business plan, he said, is misplaced when there are so many other threats to the area’s youth.

“They should concern themselves more about the OxyContin and heroin that their kids are taking,” he said.

The club would replace Noriega’s bikini bar in the same building. Previously, he tried to run a card room there called the Pointe After.

If Black Pearl opens, it would be the county’s sole strip club. The last one, Honey’s, on Highway 99 south of Everett, was shut down last year. Its owners, members of the Colacurcio family, were federally prosecuted for racketeering. Investigators said drugs and prostitution were rampant at the club.

Black Pearl would be in an area that Mukilteo could consider for future annexation. The land’s current zoning is for light industrial use.

The county’s license approval process includes reviews by the sheriff’s office, county planners, risk managers and the fire marshal.

County code bars adult entertainment dance studios within 660 feet of a school, church, park or youth-oriented facility. The Mukilteo branch of the YMCA appears the closest of those uses, but at about a quarter mile away, it’s well outside the separation the county requires.

The same county distance rule, however, applies to establishments selling alcohol by the drink. There are two businesses across the street from the proposed strip club that sell alcohol that way. That creates a potential problem for the Black Pearl. State law also prohibits strip clubs from selling alcohol.

Changing his card room into a gentlemen’s club is a valid way to make a return on his investment, Noriega said. If he’s denied, he plans to appeal.

“We’re going to take every step we can to fight this within the law,” he said.

Rikki King contributed to this report. Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.