Long Beach Studies New Law on Sex Businesses

Longstanding adult theaters, bookstores specializing in sexually explicit material and other sex-oriented businesses near homes, schools and churches would have to move under a proposal the City Council is considering.

The city in 1977 restricted those businesses from operating within 500 feet of residential zones and within 1,000 feet of churches and schools. However, that law did not apply to existing concerns. Vice Mayor Warren Harwood said he wants to go back and include the sex businesses that were established before 1977.

Estimate of Shops

Harwood pointed to a Los Angeles ordinance that is expected to remove about 90 sex-oriented businesses near residential neighborhoods in that city. Los Angeles already restricts sex-oriented businesses near schools, parks and churches.

Pending further study, Long Beach officials said this week that they did not know how many merchants here would be affected if the city sought to move pre-1977 businesses. Harwood estimated that six to eight shops north of Del Amo Boulevard and west of Cherry Avenue--including the Grand Prix Theatre--would be affected.

Senior Deputy City Atty. Arthur Y. Honda said the number of shops citywide would be low. He said many stores closed in the last 11 years and new adult businesses were not allowed in their spots.

Several council members said they like the idea of relocating the existing businesses. Sex-oriented shops have “created an intolerable blight,” Councilman Edd Tuttle said.

Reports Few Complaints

Harwood said after the meeting: “The concentration of clientele that is focusing on this material in the vicinity of kids is not wholesome.”

Rufus Harrison, owner of the Grand Prix Theatre, said his 16-year-old X-rated theater has had few complaints through the years and maintains good relations with neighboring residents and businesses. If forced to move, the theater would have a hard time because “you can’t find new locations for this kind of business too easily,” Harrison said.

In Los Angeles, officials earlier this month began to enforce a 1986 ordinance banning sex-oriented businesses from residential areas. The crackdown came after a 2-year grace period. The businesses can request a 3-year extension. Harwood said he would support a similar ordinance in Long Beach. That means sex-oriented shops near schools, churches and homes would have five years from the day the law becomes effective to move.

This is not the first time such an ordinance has been considered. In 1986, the council ordered the city attorney to draw up an ordinance that would give adult-oriented businesses within 500 feet of residential areas, churches or schools until January, 1989, to move. But the issue apparently died quietly and city officials said they could not recall why the proposed law never made it onto the books.