July 22, 2004

Council considers measure limiting sexual businesses

Village Council members indicated on Monday that they remained interested in pursuing legislation that would limit where sexually oriented businesses could operate in Yellow Springs.

The proposed legislation would prohibit adult-entertainment businesses from locating within five hundred feet of schools, public parks, day care centers, libraries, places of worship or government buildings. Such regulations would restrict the businesses from operating in downtown.

The legislation would allow sexually oriented businesses to operate in the Village’s General Business District, which is located on the south end of town along Xenia Avenue; and in Light Industrial zoning areas, which include the facilities of The Antioch Company, Vernay Laboratories’ Dayton Street plants and YSI Incorporated.

Council president Tony Arnett said that Council would hold a first reading on the ordinance at its next meeting, Aug. 2.

There was little actual debate among Council on the proposal.

Arnett was the only Council member who directly expressed an opinion on the legislation, saying that he was “OK” with the “due diligence” put into the proposal’s language. He highlighted the fact that Village staff chose language “that has already been challenged” and sanctioned by courts. Arnett also said that “it says a lot” that the proposal would restrict businesses from downtown.

Arnett noted that the Village cannot prevent sexually oriented businesses from operating in Yellow Springs, though he said that the Village may regulate their location.

After spending several months reviewing the proposed zoning legislation, the Village Planning Commission agreed last week to recommend that Council adopt the measure. Planning Commission believes the ordinance is enforceable and will standup in court, Phil Hawkey, the Village planner, told Council on Monday.

The proposed ordinance would define sexually oriented businesses as adult arcades, bookstores, novelty stores, video stores, cabarets, motels and movie theaters; escort agency; massage parlor; “semi-nude model studio”; and sexual encounter establishment. The measure defines adult bookstores, novelty stories and video stores as businesses where more than 50 percent of the stock or revenue consists of sexually oriented products.

The legislation would require a sexually oriented business to incorporate screening or covering on doors and windows to “prevent any view into the interior” on the operation. It would also prohibit advertising that could be seen from public areas, including sidewalks.

The proposal states that the new zoning chapter would “lessen the negative secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses on the health, safety and welfare of the Village.”

—Robert Mihalek