We may have a new SC soon?

Looks like a little progress in southern NM for a new SC in Las Cruces. Maybe I can get the first LD there? [view link] LAS CRUCES — If remaining work goes smoothly, a strip club in Las Cruces should be open for business this summer. Jesse Hernandez, the man who has spent most of the past year planning the only topless bar in the city, said Thursday he expects construction to begin this month on the metal building that will house The Bronx. That name is well known to many in Las Cruces, largely due to the mostly negative and sometimes emphatic commentary protesting the strip club at a public meeting. In a September meeting, the city's Planning and Zoning Commission denied a special use permit to Hernandez for the purpose of opening a strip club on Westgate Court, at the west end of Las Cruces. Nearly two months later, however, the Las Cruces City Council overturned the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation. But a split vote on a liquor license for The Bronx pushed that decision to the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. Hernandez said the state recently approved the strip club's liquor license. The state hearing officer in charge of the case did not respond to messages left by the Sun-News. "I feel pretty good about the way things are progressing," said Hernandez, who expects to open The Bronx in mid July. Outside the commentary at September's public meeting, Hernandez said most of the response he has received about The Bronx has been positive. Several people, he said, have inquired about jobs — some want to tend bar, others want to dance. By Hernandez's estimation, The Bronx will employ 50 people, but that process won't begin until June, he said. "I haven't heard enough negativity about it to give it a second thought," said Hernandez, who has East Coast roots and operated bars for years. "The few (opponents) I've run into just said, 'We won't be the ones attending.'" Hernandez said he came to Las Cruces about five years ago and wanted to open a strip club because of the opportunity. "Bottom line: You don't have very much here," he said. Hernandez and his partner Mariah Hernandez are also planning to open a bar called "La Cantina" near Avenida de Mesilla and Stern Drive. But that will be later. "I'm not trying to bring anything distasteful to the city," Hernandez said of the strip club. "It's business." He anticipates that some people will protest The Bronx when it opens. "Everybody's entitled to their opinion," he said. "I respect that. No hard feelings."