Tustin Gives Adult-Business Law Initial OK

The City Council gave preliminary approval this week to an ordinance regulating public nudity as a way of discouraging adult-oriented business.

Acting City Atty. Lois E. Jeffrey said the ordinance “reflects the latest thinking of the United States Supreme Court on the issue,” and gives the city “more effective tools for regulating public nudity than exist in the current city code.”

The Supreme Court has held that cities may restrict adult businesses but may not outlaw them. Such businesses are considered protected under the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.

Jeffrey said the Tustin ordinance addresses “nude conduct, wherever that might be.” Anaheim and Mission Viejo have similar laws, she said. Jeffrey acknowledged that “if somebody wanted to open up a nude establishment in the city, (the ordinance) would cause them to think about whether they wanted to do it.”

City Manager William A. Huston said there is a concern that adult-oriented businesses will attempt to open in Tustin as they have in other areas of the county.

“The adult-entertainment industry, if you want to call it that, is pretty clearly making overtures in cities throughout Orange County,” Huston said. “Because of that, we want to be in a position where our ordinances are up-to-date.”

The attempted openings of adult-oriented businesses often evoke strong emotions among city officials and residents. Last month in La Habra, more than 200 residents gave the Planning Commission a standing ovation when it voted unanimously to keep a “bikini bar” out of the city.

In Cypress, the City Council recently extended a moratorium on issuing permits for adult-oriented businesses. And in Newport Beach, the city was granted a preliminary injunction in March that prevents an adult theater and topless dance bar from opening.

Huston said Tustin has not received any formal proposals to open such businesses in the city. “But if it were to occur, and we hope it doesn’t, we’ll be prepared,” he said.