EVERETT — Find some way to get bikini stand baristas to cover up.
That was the message a parade of people gave Everett city leaders at Wednesday’s meeting.
“It’s a sad day when I can’t drive through my neighborhood and not worry about what my children are going to see out the window,” said Lisa Merritt, a stay-at-home mother of three.
The seats were filled with people unhappy with misbehaving bikini baristas. They recounted seeing scantily clad women acting in a sexually provocative manner. One businesswoman presented the council with a videotape that she said showed a barista flashing her private parts at a customer.
Some also reacted to news that baristas working at an Everett Grab-n-Go espresso stand were charged for violating the city’s laws against prostitution, which include displaying parts of the body normally covered up underwear, in exchange for money.
After more than a half-hour of public testimony, council members unanimously passed an ordinance that would make it more difficult for bikini-hut baristas — or anyone else working in a business with a drive-up window — to bare too much.
The updated ordinance does not ban bikini-wearing at the stands.
It defines them as public places where lewd conduct, including women baring their breasts, shouldn’t take place.
In fact, under the update it would still be legal for a woman to wear pasties or even a sheer undergarment in public as long as her nipples and areolas are covered.
At least one council member asked the city’s legal staff for tougher options. At the meeting, a city attorney presented an amendment that would have made it illegal for anyone engaging in commercial activities to bare bottoms or anything more than the upper half of the breast.
The council received a copy of the amendment a few hours before the meeting, Council President Arlan Hatloe said.
“I supported it 100 percent,” Hatloe said.
The council didn’t end up voting for the amendment, but Hatloe said he plans to ask for it to be reconsidered later this month.
Everett’s updated ordinance won’t affect bikini stands located outside city limits.
Dealing with complaints from those stands is up to Snohomish County. That hasn’t escaped the attention of county councilmen, who expected to release proposals soon calling for tighter licensing requirements in county areas.
“It’s a different approach from what Everett’s doing,” Council Chairman Mike Cooper said.
Councilmen also might suggest ways to strengthen criminal statutes, though Cooper said he thinks the county’s existing lewd conduct laws already are strong.
Herald writer Noah Haglund contributed to this story. Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com
Meeting planned
A group of people who live around the Silver Lake area plans to hold a town hall meeting to address bikini barista stands at 7 p.m., Oct. 6 at Clearview Foursquare Church, 17210 Highway 9 SE, Snohomish.
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