LOS ALAMITOS : Council May Extend Adult-Business Law

The City Council today will consider whether to extend an emergency ordinance restricting adult-oriented businesses while the city tries to draft a permanent ordinance.

The emergency ordinance, adopted Aug. 19, provided for a 45-day moratorium in processing applications for adult-oriented businesses. The moratorium will expire on Sept. 23 unless the council extends the measure, according to City Atty. Thomas W. Allen.

If the council approves the extension, it will be for 10 months and 15 days, or until Aug. 7 next year, Allen said.

In adopting the emergency ordinance, council members said they were concerned with the growing number of adult-related businesses in the county. Although there are no pending applications for such businesses in Los Alamitos, the council wants the city to have an ordinance in place should any apply.

Under the ordinance, the city will not process applications for such businesses as adult bookstores, strip clubs, peep shows, massage parlors and adult motels and hotels unless stringent regulations are followed.

These include provisions that the businesses may not be located within 300 feet of a church, school, park or residential area, and businesses must not be within 500 feet of each other.

Operators of adult-related businesses have challenged similar ordinances in such cities as Anaheim and Stanton, saying they violate First Amendment guarantees of free expression.