Developers Turn Tennessee Swinger's Sex Club Into a Church to Get Around Nashville Zoning Law
A group of developers who were blocked from building a sex club near a Christian school in Tennessee claim that they have found religion and will instead use the building to build a church.
Last fall, The Social Club purchased a new edifice in downtown Nashville for $750,000 with the intent to build a swingers club close by the Goodpasture Christian School, reports The Associated Press. However, the Metro Council in Nashville passed a zoning ordinance earlier this year banning swingers clubs from moving next to schools, churches and parks.
Refusing to back out of the deal, the group which operates The Social Club opted to rebrand their sex club into a church. Documents show that the group, Freedom 4 All, Inc., now plan to renovate the building to be a church called the United Fellowship Center.
However, skeptics note that the floor plans for the United Fellowship Center and The Social Club are pretty much the same. The only difference is that some of the rooms have been renamed, like the "dungeons" which are now being called the "choir" and "handbell" rooms and the "office" which has been changed to the "pastor study" room. In addition, 49 small, private rooms have been changed to "prayer rooms."
"It's very suspect," said Council member Karen Bennett, who sponsored the ordinance that prevented The Social Club from opening a swingers club in the building. "Even their floor plan has not changed from their original plan for the property. They've just changed the names, essentially," she said, according to CBS affiliate WTVF reports.
"We have to be patient and follow the process. The expectation from the community is that this be a legitimate church," she added.
Larry Roberts, the attorney representing the club-turned-church, said that "We've now gotten a permit to meet as a church, and a church is something that cannot be defined under the U.S. Constitution," he said.
Roberts also said church members will "meet and have fellowship" in the new building, but sex will not be permitted. "If people have something else in mind, they will go somewhere else."
However, other people who opposed The Social Club say they are skeptical of the new renovation plan.
"I find it hard to believe that they've invested that kind of money and they're just going to change the activity," Goodpasture President Ricky Perry said. "I really hope that it's true."
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