NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — County Commissioners say they have no choice but to allow a strip club to remain open, despite the fact it is within 1,000 feet of two churches and a school.

The St. Petersburg Times reported the club, Whispers, opened in February 2002, during a window of time the county had no enforceable rules against it. That window opened in December 2001 when a federal judge barred the county from enforcing its old adult business ordinance.

"We were left without an ordinance," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said. "We were naked as a jaybird — no pun intended."

When a new ordinance forced new strip clubs to industrial zones in January, Whispers remained open under a "grandfather" clause.

The Rev. Gary Carson, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, said that should never have occurred. The club sits just 600 feet from his church and the Language Academy Charter School, and about 300 feet from St. Andrew's Orthodox Church. Previous county ordinances banned adult businesses from 1,000 feet of churches and schools.

"It seems to me what has happened is a violation of the letter and the spirit of the law, all the way down the line," Carson said.

Commissioners say their hands are tied, the newspaper reported. The county would lose in court if it shut down a strip club that was grandfathered in.

"It's not because we're afraid of punitive action against us," said Commissioner Steve Simon. "It's because we're going to lose."

Carson told the newspaper the church is considering other avenues of possible action, but has not decided its next step.