Diane Gramley of Franklin, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, urged council not to change the hours restriction. She said council should make it no more restrictive than the noon to midnight now being considered, or it could fail in a court challenge.
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Council postpones vote on adult business ordinance
By Gary Johnson
Those hoping City Council approves an ordinance regulating sexually-oriented businesses will have to wait a little longer.
Though council was slated to vote on final approval of an ordinance that could limit hours, impose licensing and limit locations of such establishments, council postponed a final vote until all members of council are present to consider some changes recommended by city attorneys.
Councilman LeRoy Stearns and Councilwoman Jean Jones were absent from the meeting.
Council began looking into such an ordinance after Synn City, a bring-your-own-bottle club featuring exotic dancers, opened Aug. 4 at the former Breaker’s Pub on Park Avenue. For weeks, opponents flooded council with requests to shut it down or regulate it, claiming the club will lead to decreased property values and increased crime. Others have defended the club as a legitimate business.
On Oct. 5, council gave tentative approval to an ordinance that would limit the hours of adult entertainment venues from noon to midnight; mandate they be at least 1,000 feet from other sexually-oriented businesses, schools, churches, playgrounds and similar establishments and at least 500 feet from the boundary of a residential zoning district or residential structure; and impose a licensing and inspection requirement.
Councilmen Mike Jewell and Butch Kasbee, who were not at the meeting when tentative approval was given, have taken issue with the proposed hours limit. They’ve said government should not tell a business when it can operate and, referring to Synn City, that the rules should not be changed after a business is in operation.
Kasbee reiterated that position at the meeting. “The thing that bothers me much, much, much more than having this business here is government sticking their nose in business,” he said, noting if people don’t like an establishment, they shouldn’t patronize it.
Some others who spoke felt differently.
City resident Anne Furno said she understands the business is protected by law, but in other communities, they’re located in less populated areas. “My dispute is this shouldn’t be in the downtown area,” she said.
Diane Gramley of Franklin, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, urged council not to change the hours restriction. She said council should make it no more restrictive than the noon to midnight now being considered, or it could fail in a court challenge.
Council also received a petition signed by 327 city residents “requesting city council to provide zoning for sexually oriented businesses in the most restrictive way allowed by the Constitution.”
Synn City owner Mike Scibica said after the meeting that any hours restriction is ludicrous. “If you’re going to open up a pizza parlor, are you going to regulate when it can be open?” he asked. “We don’t want kids having pizza for breakfast so we say you can’t be open from 6 a.m. to noon. Is that what we’re going to do?”
Still, he thinks he could survive under the more restrictive hours. “Anything’s possible,” he said.
Asked after the meeting what changes attorneys have recommended, Mayor Richard Friedberg said they want to ensure that businesses that don’t focus on sexually oriented activities but have sexually-related materials, such as a bookstore that has adult magazines, is not covered by the ordinance.
“We want to make sure we do something that’s going to hold up,” he said.
Gary Johnson can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at gjohnson@meadvilletribune.com
Source: http://www.meadvilletribune.com/story.asp?id=5138
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