MAYWOOD : City to Review Laws on Adult Businesses

The City Council last week imposed a 45-day moratorium on special-use permits and business licenses for adult businesses. Officials want to study existing regulations on such establishments.

There are no such businesses in the city, but officials said a state Supreme Court ruling last month--which gave municipalities more power to restrict the location of adult establishments--prompted the moratorium and an evaluation of existing ordinances.

Under city law, massage parlors, adult bookstores and similar businesses must be at least 1,000 feet apart, no closer than 1,000 feet to schools, churches and parks, and are prohibited in residential areas, City Atty. Cary S. Reisman said.

Under the ruling, adult businesses can be forced to relocate even if no other commercially viable sites are available. The court upheld a National City ordinance requiring businesses to be at least 1,500 feet from schools, parks and other adult establishments.

The moratorium applies to adult bookstores, adult theaters, massage parlors, nude-modeling studios, and adult motels and hotels where sex is depicted on closed-circuit TV. The ban can be extended two years, Reisman said.

City officials are concerned that adult businesses might try to move to Maywood if other Southeast Los Angeles County cities tighten their own regulations in the wake of the court ruling.

“If the neighboring cities restrict them, they’ll want to come here,” said Ronald L. Lindsey, the city’s chief administrative officer. “

The city building and planning department will review the existing law and make recommendations to the Planning Commission, which must approve any changes before the proposals are considered by the City Council.