NEW FACE OF 'FORT VEGAS' A CONCERN

FORT MILL - Marvin Brown, commander of York County's drug unit, can rattle
off a growing list of arrests his team has made near Carowinds Boulevard.

In recent months, officers have charged people in nightclubs and
restaurants off U.S. 21 and S.C. 51 with possession of crack, cocaine,
Ecstasy, marijuana, guns and resisting arrest.

The strip near Paramount's Carowinds amusement park "has a cloud of
seediness over it" from the days when video poker parlors were so densely
packed that it was known as Fort Vegas, Brown said.

While video poker attracted shootings and robberies, Brown said, its demise
"is creating a whole new set of problems" as new businesses move into the area.

Several business owners interviewed by The Observer objected to the seedy
label. And representatives at two clubs said they work hard to keep drugs
and guns out of their establishments.

After video poker ended in July 2000, county officials had hoped an outlet
mall or offices might fill the gaudy gaming structures.

But the same thing that attracted video poker to the area -- proximity to
the state line near Charlotte -- is drawing drug dealers, all-night dance
clubs and possibly businesses involving adult activity, police say.

One big attraction: South Carolina allows beer and wine sales past 2 a.m.,
except Sundays. North Carolina bars have to stop selling alcohol at that hour.

While there are several bars and dance clubs in York County, police are
concerned about the drug traffic drawn to so-called rave clubs, which
feature techno music and nonstop dancing. County officials also worry about
two businesses police have reported may be sexually oriented that moved
into the area after video poker left.

"Once an area presents a certain image, it's tough to draw legitimate
businesses in there," said County Council Chairman Mike Short, who
represents the Fort Mill area. "I don't think there's any question we're
concerned."

Police and York County zoning officials are investigating a couple of the
new businesses suspected of violating county zoning and possibly the law.
The area's zoning does not allow dance clubs or adult-oriented businesses.

For example, officials are looking into whether the site of a former video
poker parlor on S.C. 51 is now a meeting place for people who exchange sex
partners.

Nearby, customers of Rio Relaxation Spa -- in the former Lady Luck poker
parlor -- have told police they were massaged by topless women wearing
string bikinis.

But Rio Spa manager David Perry denied that he's running a topless massage
parlor. He said the spa is a relaxation center where people can sit in a
hot tub or get a rubdown in essential oils by women dressed in
business-casual clothes.

Sharing a parking lot with Rio Spa, the dance club Ibiza has also been a
trouble spot for police. In December, Brown's team arrested 17 people on 32
charges, including trafficking cocaine.

Ibiza owner David Baucom, who also owns a number of dance clubs and adult
entertainment venues in the Charlotte area, said those arrests occurred
partly because the police had asked him to remove his security guards that
night.

Baucom said Ibiza has a strict security policy -- all patrons are searched
before they enter, and no one is allowed in the parking lot for more than a
few minutes. The format is Top 40 on Fridays and techno on Saturday nights,
Baucom said. He added he wants to work with the police.

"I want to be there 10 years from now," he said. "I'm in it for the long
haul, I'm not in it for the short time."

The club scene and its drug problem are moving down the highway. Police
arrested four people on drug charges last weekend at X-calibur, a
rave-style dance club a few miles from the Fort Vegas area. X-calibur's
owner could not be reached, but an employee who asked not to be named said
the management does not allow drugs in the club.

County Planning Director Eric Greenway said his office is investigating a
number of the businesses that may be violating zoning. "We have multiple
enforcement actions ongoing in that area, and we're going to take
appropriate action at the appropriate time," he said.

People who have worked on U.S. 21 for years say the customers attracted to
businesses in the area have changed.

"You had preachers and deacons and the general public playing video," said
the employee, who also works at a country-western bar next to X-calibur.
"Now you got raves and that sex-swapping thing. ... It's a whole different
type of people."

Greenway and other county officials said they are looking at ways to
attract more desirable businesses to the Carowinds Boulevard area. But it
will be hard, Greenway said. S.C. 51 is too far off the interstate to draw
retail businesses. Even U.S. 21 in the opposite direction from Carowinds is
less attractive to businesses because drivers have to make an inconvenient
left turn from the Interstate 77 exit ramp.

But the opportunity to drink and dance past 2 a.m. is enough to draw people
who like to party.

Police say that after the bars close in Charlotte, patrons stream down the
interstate to Ibiza and other clubs. Ibiza's voicemail advertises that it
sells beer and wine all night and that the DJs will play until morning.

York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant said he would like to change the alcohol
law, at least in York County. He will meet with local legislators next month.

"We get all the spillover from Mecklenburg, Gaston and Cleveland counties"
when the bars close in North Carolina, Bryant said. "That's where your
trouble comes in. By that time, you're looking at people who are pretty
worn out, pretty intoxicated, and it creates some problems for us."