Permit Waived for Adult Businesses

Sexually oriented businesses in Oxnard will not have to obtain an entertainment permit but must still adhere to the city’s adult business ordinance, the Oxnard City Council has decided.

With the decision, the city will waive a $500 initial entertainment fee charged to businesses such as billiard halls, bingo parlors, massage parlors and arcades. The city assesses the initial fee and subsequent $106 annual fees to recover higher police and service costs associated with such businesses, City Atty. Gary Gillig said.

But attorneys for an applicant seeking to open an adult cabaret in Oxnard challenged the requirement, saying the city’s entertainment permit does not conform to court rulings that extend First Amendment protection to adult businesses, Gillig said.

Gillig assured residents who protested the measure that the city was not dropping its recently adopted regulations for sexually oriented businesses.

“That does not mean an adult business does not need a business license, special use permit or is exempt from the adult business ordinance,” Gillig said.

The council approved the emergency measure on a 4-1 vote Tuesday, with Councilman Michael Plisky dissenting. Plisky said he did not see the need to require any Oxnard business to obtain an entertainment permit.