Placentia : Regulation Proposed for Escort, Model Services

After enacting a law designed to discourage adult movie establishments from locating in the city, officials now are looking at another ordinance to do the same to figure-modeling, escort services and introductory services.

The proposed ordinance, which received initial approval Tuesday, “does not prohibit the establishment of such businesses but does provide reasonable rules and regulations to protect the city and the general public,” Police Chief Harold A. Fischer wrote in a report to the City Council.

Currently there are no such businesses in Placentia, Police Capt. Jim Robertson said.

Figure-modeling businesses are studios where people can photograph, sketch, paint, sculpt or similarly depict a model for a fee. But such establishments are not always “for art’s sake,” Robertson said. “Most people don’t have film in their cameras.”

Escort services often are “another euphemism for prostitution,” Robertson said.

The proposed law also regulates introductory services, or those businesses that, for a fee, help people to meet each other.

Under the proposal, people who want to open such establishments would have to provide their business, occupation or employment history. The police chief may also require the applicant to be photographed and fingerprinted.

The proposed ordinance comes on the heels of a city fracas with a businessman who wants to open a store where individuals could watch X-rated movies in enclosed booths. The city responded by establishing an ordinance regulating such establishments and denying the request from Dynavid Ltd. The firm then sued the city, setting off a series of legal maneuvers by both parties.