After film-permit requests jump, Camarillo adopts porn moratorium
In response to a jump in requests for temporary film permits, Camarillo officials have passed a 45-day moratorium on adult film production in the city.
The ordinance, approved Wednesday, gives the city time to study the potential effects of pornographic film production and determine whether to impose regulations.
The city received several calls last week inquiring about temporary film permits and asking whether Camarillo had a condom ordinance, Assistant City Atty. Don Davis said. A property owner also informed officials that he had been contacted about leasing his building to be used as an adult film studio.
Davis said it was the first time the city has had multiple requests for temporary permits of such a nature.
“What we think may be happening is maybe as a result of safe-sex and adult-film ordinances in L.A. County and the city of L.A., some of the productions are perhaps looking for new film territory, and we’re not that far away,” Davis said.
Last year, Los Angeles County voters passed a law that requires porn actors to wear condoms and porn producers to obtain health permits. Many in the porn industry opposed the measure. They argued that consumers were not interested in watching films with actors wearing condoms and threatened to relocate their production studios.
Camarillo, a city of 65,000 in Ventura County, is about 40 miles north of the San Fernando Valley, considered the epicenter of porn production. Camarillo does not have regulations specific to adult film, Davis said.
“We haven’t had a history of adult films in the city, so it’s a new issue,” Davis said. “We’re looking at what other people have done to decide how we’re going to address this.”
Under state law, an “urgency” ordinance related to moratoriums can be 45 days with allowances for extensions later.
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