Pay to Play?

Port Hueneme fought for its “view tax” on oceanfront homeowners all the way to the state Supreme Court at great expense before losing.

Simi Valley’s bright idea for a “view tax” on strip club patrons may well be doomed to a similar fate.

Yet we have to admire the ingenuity that throbs beneath the surface of this seemingly mild-mannered, conservative community. First, Simi drafts an ordinance to tidy up the scourge of mud wrestling; now it plots to chase away sex-oriented businesses by imposing a steep tax on their customers.

Even if this makes for lousy constitutional law, it’s inspired politics.

City leaders have maneuvered for years to keep strip clubs, adult bookstores and massage parlors out of their family- and safety-minded community. In the latest move, Councilman Paul Miller proposed taxing the patrons of such operations as much as $15 or $20 per visit.

Since so-called adult businesses tend to add to the workload of police and code-enforcement officers, he reasoned, why not bump and grind some extra bucks out of the customers? And if that causes such businesses to decide not to open in Simi, what a crying shame.

Legal and government experts say the idea is a new one in California--and possibly the nation. There’s probably a good reason for that. Courts have often upheld exotic dancers’ right to perform (and patrons’ right to watch them) as protected by the 1st Amendment guarantee of free speech and expression.

Simi Valley’s own zoning restrictions on adult businesses recently were ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles; the city is appealing that decision.

Should the city spend even more tax money on this new effort to stop sin at the city limits? If the people of Simi are behind their City Council on this one, then maybe so. For the sin-tax idea to become law, it would have to be approved by voters anyway.

Other communities across the nation will no doubt watch with great interest how Simi Valley fares with this issue should the city decide to take it on--take it all on.