West County Issue / Adult Bookstores...

Eleanor Branthoover, Chairwoman, Oxnard neighborhood council

I am not against people seeing pornography at adult bookstores, but I am concerned with the areas of the city where these types of bookstores can be built, especially areas where children may be present. A mother and child who want to shop at the Esplanade will now have to walk past the bookstore. The bookstore will also be located at the only entrance in and out of the neighborhood. It’s just not a good place to put it. I’m glad the city is thinking of changing the zoning codes so the same thing doesn’t happen to another neighborhood, but it won’t benefit my neighborhood now. City officials heard about the bookstore a long time ago, and that should have sent up a red flag. But they waited too long to make the changes, and now it’s too late for my neighborhood.

Don Jackson, Owner of Three Star Books, an adult bookstore in Ventura

Any business, if run properly, should be allowed to be built anywhere, as long as it is not an eyesore and blends in nicely with the surrounding area. I don’t see anything wrong with building an adult bookstore as long as the outside of the store is not offensive to anyone walking by. Just because some people disagree with what is inside the store doesn’t mean that it should be confined to a back alley somewhere. I can understand people’s concern if it was built near a school, that’s understandable, and it makes sense. I wouldn’t want an adult bookstore near my kid’s school, but I don’t think it’s wrong to build one in an area designated as a business district. An adult bookstore should be treated just like any other business, and changing the zoning codes to prevent that from happening is not right.

John McDougal, Oxnard resident

An adult bookstore should be treated just like any other bookstore, and changing the zoning codes so they can’t build in certain areas is not right. There are plenty of liquor stores throughout the city that sell dirty magazines, and you don’t see anybody making a big deal about them. We should not look at the owners of adult bookstores as evil people. They feel there is a demand in the area for the material they sell and are trying to meet that demand. If nobody ends up shopping at their store, they’ll probably realize they were wrong about the demand and take their business elsewhere. Instead of fighting the bookstores, people should spend time talking with and educating their children about sex.

Richard Maggio, Community development director, Oxnard

The city is trying a number of things to improve its image and promote tourism, and having a facility such as an adult bookstore near the gateway areas into the city will not give visitors, or residents, a good impression. Obviously, there are laws we have to follow, and we can’t exclude adult bookstores totally out of the city. But we will, as in the past, restrict where they can be located in the city. It’s time that we update the zoning codes, which have not been changed since 1978, and get the additional authority we need to restrict where adult bookstores can be built. We will be proposing a new ordinance that will require additional standards for adult bookstores and impose tighter restrictions on how and what they display on the outside of their buildings.

Dorothy Maron, Oxnard city councilwoman

I will join or support any group that is opposed to allowing dirty bookstores to be built in gateway areas of the city. I call them dirty bookstores rather than adult bookstores because it is juveniles, juveniles that have grown big, that visit them. Adults can choose to go to these places if they want, but that doesn’t mean we should allow them to be built in places that are easily accessible to children. Gateway areas in the city attract many people, especially children, and we don’t need to expose our children to this kind of filth. The gateway areas are also what people see first when they come to Oxnard and we don’t want them to get the wrong impression of the city.