A church group packed City Hall last night to encourage City Council members to stop more strip clubs from opening in Renton.

“They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but it didn’t. It’s come up here,” said Dave McAlister, pastor of Celebration Church.

The public hearing was a part of the city’s requirement for placing a six-month moratorium on adult-entertainment businesses.

While the moratorium won’t stop Renton’s first fully nude strip club, Club SinRock, from opening, it will keep other adult businesses from locating in the city while the city considers its options.

The roughly 30 people who spoke at the hearing wanted Renton to continue to be a family oriented city.

“I’m here to protect the children,” said Daniel Palmer, whose has lived in the area 12 years.

After the hearing, the church gathered outside City Hall to pray.

“I believe prayer goes a lot further than pointing and screaming,” McAlister said. “We love Renton.”

About 25 years ago Renton won a U.S. Supreme Court case which allowed the city to zone for adult entertainment.

At the time a man started showing pornographic films in two theaters downtown, now a church and the Renton Civic Theater, said council member Don Persson.

The court ruled that the city had to provide a reasonably sized area that adult entertainment businesses could open, because it was protected free speech.

The city chose the valley area, because it wasn’t developed and no one dreamed that one would open there, he said.

“There is a place for this, it’s not in Renton,” said Renton’s Vanessa Chodykin at the hearing.

Now the valley is full of industry and even has childcare centers.

“If we could ban it, we’d ban it outright; but we’re going to obey the law,” Persson said.

City Council didn’t add much to audience comments.

“You’re pretty much preaching to the choir,” said council member Greg Taylor to the audience. “We all believe in family values.”

SinRock is the only adult entertainment business that’s asked for a license, but there is the fear that others might.

“The city is anxious to see how this business performs,” said Renton Mayor Denis Law.

The moratorium will give city staff time to come up with ideas on how to prevent more adult businesses from opening.

“The moratorium is to give our staff an opportunity to take a look at the whole issue and see if there’s anything that we can do,” Persson said. “We want staff to be creative.”

While Renton is already looking at extending the moratorium, it’s not an indefinite solution, said Renton City Attorney Larry Warren at the hearing.

The City of Seattle tried to use moratoriums to stop adult entertainment businesses, but after 17 years it lost to a challenge, he said.

“Obviously the laws have changed over the years, but the Supreme Court decision that the city got 25 years ago is still the leading authority in the land today,” Persson said.