CAMARILLO : Moratorium Weighed for Adult Businesses

Concerned about a possible influx of adult-oriented businesses, Camarillo council members on Wednesday( will consider adopting a 45-day moratorium on processing permits for adult businesses, pending a legal review of the city’s current ordinance.

Matthew Boden, the city’s director of planning and community development, said staff raised the issue after several individuals recently inquired about city rules concerning adult bookstores.

The city’s current ordinance, adopted in 1978, permits the news rack sale of adult-oriented publications and the operation of adult-oriented businesses with a council-granted permit.

Both adult-oriented news racks and businesses must be located at least 500 feet from any residential zone or any holder of a license to sell alcoholic beverages. They must also be 1,000 feet from any church, school or other previously established adult-oriented business in the city.

Boden said the moratorium will give the city time to study how it can strengthen the existing law.

Mayor Ken Gose said he will vote for the moratorium.

“I don’t believe these businesses have a place in Camarillo and I am in support of doing what we have to do, short of violating any constitutional protections, to prevent them from operating here,” Gose said.

Camarillo’s proposed moratorium comes on the heels of similar actions in Santa Paula and Ventura.

On May 16, the Santa Paula City Council adopted a 45-day urgency ordinance to allow its city attorney time to draft a tougher anti-adult business ordinance. That same day, the Ventura City Council approved an ordinance that bans adult-oriented businesses except in industrial sections.

The Camarillo City Council will consider the issue Wednesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 601 Carmen Drive.