MISSION VIEJO : Council to Review Pornography Laws

A package of anti-pornography laws, approved by the Planning Commission this week, will go to the City Council next month.

Along with a widely publicized, controversial zoning ordinance that restricts adult businesses to three areas in the city, the commission also recommended a ban on topless bars.

On Dec. 20, the commission will consider tighter regulations on commercial massage.

The City Council is expected to review all three proposed laws on Jan. 24.

“We went as far as we constitutionally could with the adult business ordinance,” said city Community Development Director Clint Sherrod. “Between this ordinance and the other two, Mission Viejo will be protected quite well.”

The adult business ordinance has been the subject of at least 15 public meetings and workshops, some of which drew more than 100 people, over the last year.

Many expressed fears that the ordinance would attract adult businesses to the city. The same concern was aired on Monday, but by a smaller audience of about 10 people.

Sherrod said the decline in attendance could mean that “some people have recognized that the city has done all they constitutionally can to protect the community.”

The massage law being considered would require all masseuses to be working for chiropractors, doctors or licensed physical therapists. Sherrod said that The Carriage Trade, the only massage outlet in Mission Viejo, would be required to comply with the ordinance, if passed.

Commissioners had questions about how the ordinance would affect sports clubs that offered massage or homebound persons who see masseuses in their homes.