City to Enforce Law on Adult Bookstores

The City Council took its first step this week toward enforcing a law that requires seven adult bookstores on Garden Grove Boulevard either to close up shop or move off the strip.

Tuesday night’s action, which will be reviewed by the Planning Commission before final council approval, is the result of a 1992 zoning ordinance that bans adult businesses on the boulevard between Beach Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue.

That law gave the city the authority to require businesses that do not conform to zoning requirements to shut down or relocate.

Sections of Euclid Avenue, Brookhurst Street, Westminster Avenue and Harbor and Garden Grove boulevards have been zoned to allow adult businesses.

Resident Bob Wilson, who has led a seven-year battle to rid Garden Grove Boulevard of its adult bookstores, said many of the problems the street faces, such as crime and neighborhood blight, stem from such businesses.

“I applaud the city in its effort to restore the quality of life in these areas,” Wilson said.

Under the plan, bookstores now operating on the boulevard will have two years to relocate or file for an extension.

A second ordinance approved by the council outlines new operating restrictions for businesses receiving an extension.

The display of sexually explicit material and the sale of alcoholic beverages are among the practices prohibited by the new ordinance.

Though the law was passed four years ago, the city has delayed enforcement.

“We’ve taken an attitude of going slow and doing things properly so we don’t expose ourselves to extensive litigation,” Councilman Mark Leyes said.