MOORPARK : Council Delays Vote on Adult Businesses

The Moorpark City Council on Wednesday delayed action on a new ordinance regulating where adult businesses and entertainment facilities will be allowed to operate in the city.

Central to City Council debate was how restrictive to make the ordinance in terms of minimum distances between adult businesses and churches, schools and homes.

The proposed ordinance called for all adult businesses to be located in a commercial zone at least 500 feet from any residential zone or any other adult business. They also would have to be at least 1,000 feet from any church, school or city park.

Councilman Scott Montgomery suggested that the council ban adult businesses that offer live entertainment and increase the distance between adult businesses and residences, churches and schools to 1,500 feet.

“There is no, zero, location in the city of Moorpark where this would be an acceptable use,” Montgomery said at the meeting.

But City Atty. Cheryl Kane said the city is not legally able to establish minimum distances that would, in effect, ban adult businesses from the city.

And Mayor Paul Lawrason said the city did not want to pass an ordinance that could be overruled on First Amendment grounds.

“I don’t think we want to create an ordinance that will be a magnet for litigation,” Lawrason said.

Jim Aguilera, the city’s director of community development, said at the meeting that it was unlikely that Montgomery’s proposal would allow for any adult businesses in the city.

There are now no adult-oriented businesses in Moorpark. But for years, city officials have been discussing the need to adopt an ordinance regulating such establishments before anyone formally applies to open one.

“We want to be prepared should someone come forward with that sort of proposal,” Lawrason said before the meeting. “Not that I anticipate anyone coming in and doing that. It’s just a matter of being prepared.”

The city of Simi Valley is working on a similar ordinance, and such laws are already on the books in Oxnard and Camarillo, officials said.

Moorpark will consider the ordinance again in February, after city staff has a chance to analyze Montgomery’s proposal.