Placentia : Peep Show Not Wanted, City Administrator Says

Because peep shows are, according to a city official, “totally against the prevailing community standards and morals in our city,” the City Council tonight will discuss “strict” criteria to discourage such businesses in Placentia.

The proposed ordinance follows the Planning Commission’s recent denial of a peep show business that would have provided small booths for individual screenings of adult movies. The applicant, Raymond Pistol of Van Nuys, is expected to appeal the denial to the council on Jan. 7, City Administrator Roger Kemp said.

By the time Pistol makes his appeal, however, the council may have already given initial approval to an ordinance that prohibits doors on booths and allows police to make background investigations of proprietors and employees, among other criteria, Kemp said.

The city may not be able to prohibit peep shows, Kemp said, but officials “most definitely” want to discourage them from opening in Placentia by setting strict criteria on such businesses.

“Placentia is a middle-class bedroom community with very high moral standards, and we don’t want something like this in our community,” Kemp said Monday.

When the Planning Commission denied Pistol’s request for a shop, it cited inadequate parking facilities, Kemp said. Pistol, who owns a shop called Brand X Video in Van Nuys, could not be reached for comment Monday.

“We’d like to send him back to Van Nuys where he came from,” said Kemp, who added that the issue has created “a snowball effect” among residents.

“All kinds of people are calling City Hall,” Kemp said. A letter from the El Dorado High School Parent-Teacher-Student Assn. to the council, for example, states: “We strongly feel that this would be detrimental to our youth and our community.”