MAYWOOD : Council Extends Ban on Adult Businesses

The City Council has extended a 45-day-old moratorium on special-use permits and business licenses for adult businesses.

The moratorium will be in effect for an additional 10 months and 15 days--a total of one year. The extra time will allow the Planning Commission to schedule public hearings on the issue and to develop recommendations for the council, said Chief Administrative Officer Ron Lindsey.

The council initially imposed the moratorium Nov. 24, then renewed the measure during a special Jan. 5 meeting to discuss the subject. The moratorium would have expired Jan. 7.

“I don’t want to have adult (businesses). There are too many kids in this town,” Councilman Bill Hamilton said. “I am strictly opposed to that sort of thing. Other cities are doing the same. I think we need to fall in line with what other towns are doing. I can’t speak for the rest of the council, but I would hazard a guess that they feel the same as I do.”

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.

There are no such businesses in the city, but officials said that an October state Supreme Court ruling--which gave municipalities more power to restrict the location of adult establishments--prompted the moratorium and an evaluation of the city’s existing ordinance.

Under city law, adult businesses must be at least 1,000 feet apart, no closer than 1,000 feet from schools, churches and parks, and are prohibited in residential areas.

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 council can extend the moratorium for another year if it does not adopt a new policy over the next 10 1/2 months. The Planning Commission could schedule a public hearing as early as next month, Lindsey said.