NORTHWEST : LOS ALAMITOS : Ordinance on Adult Businesses Extended

The City Council this week unanimously decided to extend for 10 months a temporary ordinance restricting adult-related business in the city.

The temporary ordinance would have expired Sept. 23. The extension ends Aug. 7, 1994, but the ordinance may be extended for an additional year, according to City Atty. Thomas W. Allen. He said the city is drafting a permanent ordinance that will regulate such businesses as adult bookstores, massage parlors and motels.

The city has no existing adult businesses or pending applications to open new ones, Allen said, but it has to be prepared because of the increasing number of businesses opening in other Orange County cities.

The temporary ordinance provides for a moratorium in processing permit applications for adult businesses. Permits, however, may be granted under certain stringent conditions, such as not locating the business within 300 feet of a residential area, church, school or park.

The adult business must also be at least 500 feet away from a similar business. It must not impede traffic, and the design should blend with commercial structures in the area.

Council members said the adult-business ordinance is necessary to protect the community from effects such as crime, spread of sexually transmitted diseases and lower property values.

Adult-business operators in Anaheim and Stanton have challenged ordinances regulating their business, saying the laws violate their First Amendment guarantees of free speech and expression.