City Mulls Adult Business Regulations
BRUSH, Colo. — Current zoning regulations would allow sexually oriented businesses to set up shop in any commercial area, but that may soon change. City Attorney Robert Chapin has suggested that the Brush City Council prepare for any adult businesses that may want to open their doors in the city.
“The point is to be prepared for it if and when it should happen, because it is a type of business that is permitted under a general commercial area unless it is otherwise regulated,” he said during the council work session Monday.
Assistant City Administrator Karen Schminke offered the council three options to regulate adult businesses.
One option would be to leave the regulations as they are and negotiate the terms on a case-by-case basis, she said.
The city also could instead set up a specific district where the adult businesses could locate, Schminke said, but still require them to go through a public hearing process to obtain a special permit. The city would need to clearly define the services, products and anatomical areas associated with the businesses for this option, she said.
After some discussion, Schminke said the council as a whole seemed to be the most comfortable with this option.
The most regulated option would be to create an adult business zoning district and require all businesses to obtain a license before beginning operations, she said.
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INDIANA
Judge Orders Plainfield Sex Shop Closed
PLAINFIELD, Ind. — A shop selling adult sex toys and lingerie on Main Street in Plainfield has been ordered closed.
Hendricks Superior Court Judge Mark A. Smith issued a five-page ruling that grants a preliminary injunction ordering the Hot Temptations business to close after Smith found that business owner Christopher Justin Eads of West Lafayette violated Plainfield zoning ordinances and a stop work order.
The judge upheld the legality of the town's zoning ordinances, including one that requires adult entertainment businesses to get a license from the town. Town officials had claimed Hot Temptations was an adult entertainment business and violated ordinances by offering live lingerie modeling.
Indianapolis attorney Gary Selig, representing Eads, declined comment until talking with his client, but said Eads intends to abide by the court order.
Eads didn't apply for a license and testified in a hearing Monday that he doesn't believe he needed one because he's removed sex toys, pornographic videos and other items expressly prohibited in the town ordinance.
The judge said the injunction is preliminary and set a final hearing for July 18.
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MASSACHUSETTS
Milford Adult Entertainment Laws Pass
MILFORD — Attorney General Martha Coakley has approved the five zoning bylaw changes that were approved by Town Meeting on May 19. The rules were adopted after Doc's Sports Bar asked to add strippers to its entertainment.
"I'm very pleased, of course, that they've been approved," Town Counsel Gerald Moody said yesterday. "That's going to serve us well in the future."
Doc's is now appealing the Zoning Board of Appeals' denial of a special permit to Superior Court.
Two of the bylaw's changes clarify the definition of an "adult entertainment enterprise." The third bylaw change bans adult entertainment from the zoning district CC (highway commercial). Adult entertainment is still permitted in the town's IB (highway industrial) and IC (highway and neighborhood industrial) zones.
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TEXAS
City Defines 'Adult Businesses'
BRYAN, Texas —The city council has approved changes to its zoning ordinance that removes ambiguous language and replaces it with detailed criteria defining adult bars, bookstores and theaters.
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TEXAS
Police Quandary: Is New Club Topless?
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Although some citizens have complained to police about the Roxy Show Club, the owner has said it's not a topless club. It has four stages and entertainers dance for their customers, but "We are not a topless bar," said Joel Vela, owner of the Roxy Show Club. "The entertainers wear pasties, latex paint with pasties, but they perform dances for patrons."
Vela said he has run similar clubs like this in San Antonio and Houston, and he's running an upscale establishment, aimed at a certain clientele
"This is what is in compliance and they still want to look into it and try to go further into singling me out as far as running me out of town," Vela said.
Officers asking the City Attorney's office to determine if it's a sexually oriented business. If the Roxy is determined to be a sexually oriented business, then it cannot operate in the downtown area and must get a permit.
"It's a very strict dress code here," said Vela. "Drugs and prostitution will not be allowed here."
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CHINA
First Adult Store in Beijing Celebrates 15 Years
BEIJING — Beijing Adam & Eve Health Centre – the first adult shop in the Chinese mainland, founded in 1993, celebrated its 15th anniversary recently. The 215-square-foot shop sells contraceptives, pregnancy tests, aphrodisiacs and sex toys.
Recently, owner Wen Jingfeng published "Forbidden Fruit 1993, My Sex Shop And I," narrating his experiences over the past decade-and-a-half.
"I will keep on doing the business, and hopefully, develop Adam & Eve into a famous and long-standing brand," Wen said.
Opening a sex shop was no easy feat. Wen couldn’t even find his business a foothold but he was not the only person who believed the public should have a rational attitude toward sex.
On Jan. 8, 1993, Beijing Adam & Eve finally opened. In the next two weeks, no one except a beggar stepped in. On the 16th day, a whistling young man wandered in. As soon as he realized what the shop was selling, he stopped whistling and his face turned red. He bought a box of condoms for $1.37.
As the business grew, Wen noticed particular social habits of his patrons. Some shy customers wore sunglasses while shopping and ran out before getting their change. Eventually, more people came to select products and even consulted with sales staff, Wen says.
Since 1994, hundreds of adult shops have opened in Beijing, Wen said. "It become an usual shop for people."
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