YAKIMA, Wash. -- Responding to the growing proliferation of bikini bars, the Yakima City Council approved minor changes to the city’s indecent exposure ordinance Tuesday night.

Among other things, the changes prohibit see-through apparel as well as G-strings as primary workwear and defines in excruciating detail something known in legal parlance as “cleavage of the buttocks.”

Acting on concerns voiced by Mayor Dave Edler, the council voted 5-2 to amend the ordinance in response to several new coffee stands in Yakima that feature scantily clad baristas.

Such businesses, sometimes known as bikini bars or sexpresso stands, have been popping up in communities throughout the Northwest. Some are more risque than others.

In a statement to the council Tuesday, Edler defended his opposition to such businesses, which he accused of contributing to sex crimes against women.

“If you want to create an environment where crime can happen,” he said, “you turn a blind eye to adult businesses. And that’s why this is important to me.”

The vote was not unanimous, however. Council members Kathy Coffey and Rick Ensey voted no, with Coffey suggesting that amending the indecent exposure code was an empty gesture.

Said Coffey to Edler, “This isn’t going to achieve what you want to achieve.”
- Chris Bristol