Despite Zoning Law : Le Sex Shoppes Win Permit for 3 More Years

Several controversial sex shops emerged victorious Friday in their battle with homeowner groups when a Los Angeles hearing officer said he had no choice but to permit them to continue operating.

The announcement by associate zoning administrator William Lillenberg concluded another tangled chapter in a 10-year debate over where and how such shops should be allowed to operate within the city limits.

“I would have to assume that, after reviewing the file and record, I will have no choice but to extend to 1991” authorization to keep the shops open, Lillenberg said, referring to three Le Sex Shoppes in Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood and Canoga Park.

He also reviewed a request that a fourth Le Sex Shoppe in Studio City be closed but did not indicate how he would rule in that case. Homeowners who live near the shop said, however, that they fear it eventually will be granted an exemption.

Lillenberg was acting under regulations passed by the City Council two years ago and designed to prevent sexually oriented businesses from operating within 500 feet of homes after March 6. But businesses with long-term leases or large investments in their sites were permitted to apply for three-year extensions.

Extensions Requested

The four shops reviewed by Lillenberg Friday applied for such extensions.

The zoning officer’s formal rulings, which can be appealed to the City Council, will be announced in three weeks, he said.

“Sodom and Gomorrah is what we have since that damn shop opened up,” complained Jane Lacy of Canoga Park. She said she once forced two nude men against a wall near her house with her car until they could run away without their clothes.

But, Lillenberg said, “my hands are pretty well tied.”

The Le Sex Shoppe chain operates 23 stores in Southern California. They are among about 90 sexually oriented businesses affected by the 1986 regulations. Lillenberg said he expects many stores to apply for exemptions.

After the hearing Friday, the Studio City Residents Assn. opened a new battlefront. Members said they would try to force the Le Sex Shoppe in their neighborhood to get rid of its X-rated video booths, even if they cannot force the shop out of business.

Multiple-Use Business

A multiple-use business--such as a sex shop with video booths and books--can be limited to a single use if its lease was not in effect by 1978. It is unclear whether the lease on the Studio City shop was in effect by that time.

“It leads more directly to crime in the neighborhood,” Polly Ward, association president, said of the booths. Michelle Hansen, a North Hollywood vice squad officer, said there have been 75 arrests for lewd conduct over the past two years inside the shop. She said male prostitution abounds in the area near the business.

It was the Studio City group that helped draft the ordinance restricting sex shops. Former association president Daniel Shapiro wrote the ordinance and, after being threatened with a slander suit by Le Sex Shoppe owners in 1981, persuaded Councilman Hal Bernson to introduce it before City Council. Shapiro had called their businesses offensive.

“Revenge is mine,” Shapiro said March 7, when the city began enforcing the ordinance. Shapiro did not attend the hearing Friday.

Lillenberg did not express an opinion in the Studio City case after the attorney for the shop, Richard Weston of Beverly Hills, said he was not notified about the hearing in time.