City Joins Suit Over Adult Entertainment

Saying they want more control over where adult entertainment businesses are located, Camarillo City Council members have voted unanimously to join Long Beach in fighting a lawsuit that would weaken municipal anti-pornography zoning regulations.

Eighty-nine other cities, including Ventura, have taken the same action.

The friend-of-the-court brief is meant to buttress Long Beach’s defense in a lawsuit brought against city officials by four adult entertainment businesses contending they were harmed by a new zoning ordinance.

The ordinance creates a buffer zone in which adult bookstores and nude bars are prohibited around schools, parks, churches and residential neighborhoods.

The adult-business owners objected, saying the ordinance violates their 1st Amendment rights. They complained that the new zoning laws required them to move, leaving them no “alternate channels of expression.”

Long Beach countered that the businesses are free to locate outside the buffer zone. However, the ordinance attempts to prevent the creation of “red-light districts” by keeping such businesses at least 1,000 feet from each other.

The case is to be heard by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, an injunction has been placed against Long Beach’s enforcement of the ordinance.

Although Camarillo has not had to deal with the pornography issue, it joined in the suit as a safeguard.

“You’re talking about exploitation of women. I don’t feel there’s any value to that,” said Councilman Michael Morgan. “If I had my druthers, I wouldn’t want to see that kind of entertainment in our city.”

A decision in the case is expected this fall.