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Topless car wash raises ire of city council in Idaho town

Saturday, June 29, 2002

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW, Idaho -- A topless carwash has spurred the city council to consider an indecent exposure ordinance to replace the one the courts voided three years ago.

The decision by three female roommates earlier this month to solve their financial problems and raise the rent money by offering topless car washes was apparently more than the council members could endure.

They have put an ordinance mandating bikini tops for women on the fast track for approval Monday.

The proposed ordinance requires the entire breast to be covered -- a much larger area than would have been required to be covered under a proposal the council narrowly rejected in 1999 after the courts voided the old ordinance as unconstitutionally vague. Without an ordinance, state law prevails, and it does not consider exposure of breasts indecent.

Critics have called the council's decision a knee-jerk reaction to something that could be handled under the city's public nuisance or zoning ordinances.

City Attorney Randy Fife has not found the topless carwash to have created much a nuisance. But planning officials are sending letters to property owners in residential areas where the roommates have been washing cars, advising them that businesses are not allowed.

"I think it is unfortunate that we have to legislate (because of) a lack of common sense," Councilman Jack Hill said.

The three roommates took to the topless carwash after they were fired for failing to show up for their jobs. Car trouble had kept them from getting back to Moscow on time from a trip to Seattle.

They still owed June's rent, and they said the roving carwash with the topless enticement was just a way to earn some quick cash.

Moscow is located just east of Pullman, Wash.

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