GARDEN GROVE : Peep Shows Still Not Up to Code, City Says

The continuing struggle between operators of peep shows and the city of Garden Grove took another turn Monday as four video arcades complied with a court order to remove the doors on interior booths--but replaced them with curtains.

“They’ve taken down the doors but put up curtains, and that’s absolutely not in compliance with the municipal code,” said City Atty. Stuart B. Scudder. Code enforcement officers Monday inspected five peep shows on Garden Grove Boulevard for compliance with an order issued by Superior Court Judge John C. Wooley on Dec. 28.

The businesses that replaced doors with curtains are the Bijou, the A-Z Bookstore, the Garden of Eden Bookstore and Hip Pocket Bookstore. A fifth, the Adult Bookstore, complied with the court order.

“We’ll give them until the afternoon (today), and if the curtains are still there, they’ll be cited for violating the municipal code,” Scudder said. Garden Grove has a “peep show” ordinance regulating the video arcade businesses, which typically charge 25 cents to view a snippet of an X-rated film.

The removal of the doors avoids the threat of a contempt citation from the court and may lead to another round of legal battles.

“I think Mr. Scudder is wasting his time and the taxpayers’ money,” said Roger Diamond, an attorney representing the arcades. “The judge’s concern was with safety, that somehow a person might get locked in a booth in the event of a fire. These curtains are easily pushed aside.”

Garden Grove’s ordinance, passed in 1983 and revised in 1988, also requires that exit signs be visible to all users of the booths, and sets other standards such as minimum booth sizes and aisle widths.