City Ponders Restrictions on Adult Businesses

Thousand Oaks doesn’t have an adult bookstore or a strip joint, but city officials will consider a zoning proposal to prevent legal problems if someone wants to open such a business in the city.

Without an ordinance on the books, officials could not regulate the location of an adult-oriented business should an application emerge, said City Atty. Mark Sellers. By law, cities can’t deny projects based on content alone, but they can create statutes keeping adult businesses away from schools, churches and residential areas.

“It’s something nobody wants to encourage, but you have to have rules to allow it,” Sellers said.

Designating a legal area for such businesses--in line with recent court decisions--could prevent Thousand Oaks from ending up like neighbor Simi Valley, Sellers said. There, officials are fighting a lawsuit won in 1997 by developer Philip Young, who challenged Simi Valley’s ordinance, claiming that it violated his civil rights.

Simi Valley officials last month filed a petition to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, said City Atty. David Hirsch, after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in June affirmed a trial judge’s decision in favor of Young.

“We believe the appellate court was wrong and our ordinance was constitutional,” Hirsch said, noting that it was a divided opinion. The city has spent more than $100,000 litigating the case.

Roger Jon Diamond of Santa Monica, who represents Young and has defended adult businesses for 34 years, said persuading the high court to look at the case will be difficult.

“This is just one last effort to get the [appellate] decision overturned,” Diamond said.

If city officials fail, he added, they will face paying Young damages.

Young sued Simi Valley after twice trying to open a nude dance club on East Los Angeles Avenue in the early 1990s. In the second attempt, the city granted Young zoning clearance but rescinded it a month later.

In the meantime, Diamond said, officials passed a new ordinance prohibiting strip clubs from being within 1,000 feet of any school, park or religious site and then approved a Bible-study class in the area. But according to Hirsch, an existing karate school--originally overlooked by city officials--was what disqualified Young’s application.

Diamond said that if the city ultimately loses the case, the amount Young spent on permit fees and lost in potential profits from the delay could factor into the amount of damages he would be owed.

In Thousand Oaks, Sellers is pushing a law that would designate areas of the city for adult businesses and establish specific regulations that owners would have to follow. Proposed restrictions include barring the touching of customers, limiting hours of operation and prohibiting nudity.

Under Sellers’ proposal, the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission would identify potential zones and work out details of the ordinance before reporting to the council.

Alan Reinach, director of public affairs and religious liberty at the Seventh-day Adventist Church regional headquarters in Westlake Village, said he’s glad the city is acting, although he’s no fan of adult businesses.

“I’m not worried that a statute is going to send the wrong message and encourage adult businesses to locate in Thousand Oaks,” he said.

Cities throughout California have grappled with the issue for years, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals--which oversees the western United States--has consistently ruled on the side of adult-business proprietors, Diamond said.

“All of these issues go to the courts because the elected representatives are too cowardly to do what’s right,” he said.

That’s why Thousand Oaks leaders want to deal with the issue now.

“I think it’s important to have something like [this law] in place before we have a situation we have to respond to,” said Mayor Dennis Gillette.

Councilwoman Linda Parks, who said she brought up the issue two years ago, said she’s glad to see a law finally taking shape.

“Otherwise, [adult businesses] could move into town in any commercial area,” she said.

Still, Diamond said, most cities run into problems because the ordinances they pass are too restrictive.

“For example, if Los Angeles said adult businesses could only occur in the area already occupied by Dodger Stadium, that would not be reasonable,” he said.

Sellers said he’s studied the case law and will work to ensure that Thousand Oaks doesn’t make that kind of mistake.

The City Council will consider the matter at its Dec. 11 meeting, said Jason Alcala, deputy city attorney.