The Teen Dance Ordinance was a controversial Seattle law which severely curtailed the ability of concert and club promoters to hold events for underaged patrons.
The Teen Dance Ordinance (TDO) was conceived and passed the City Council on July 29, 1985, to stop abuses at underage clubs.
Key among its provisions were: With these requirements, teen dances outside of schools were virtually banned in the city, as no promoter would undertake the costs involved.
With Seattle becoming an epicenter for alternative rock and the grunge scene in the early 1990s, teens had to go to neighboring cities to attend concerts and dances.
"[4] The repeal of the ordinance was a key goal of JAMPAC, a musicians' and promoters' political action committee founded by Krist Novoselic of Nirvana.
The veto caused JAMPAC to launch a suit against the City of Seattle, claiming that the TDO's virtual outlawing of dance infringed on the First Amendment right to free expression.
Nevertheless, during the course of the suit, Schell was voted out of office (in the aftermath of the disastrous WTO meetings of 1999) and the new mayor Greg Nickels, a proponent of the bill, resubmitted the ordinance to the council.