County Orders Halt to Porn Filming at Beach Home

For the past five weeks, an Internet porn operator known as the House of Sex filmed explicit movies at a swank beach house near Channel Islands Harbor with full permission from Ventura County planners.

On Thursday, after an uprising from neighbors--who described late-night sightings of scantily clad women and sounds of loud rap music and provocative noises--county officials admitted they had goofed and ordered the filming to stop.

“The bottom line is, we made an error, and we apologize to the community for their trouble and inconvenience,” said Todd Collart, manager of the county’s zoning administration.

The film permits were issued for two days in February and one in March to Stan Brunt, who owns the pink three-story house in the 200 block of Hollywood Boulevard, in an unincorporated Silver Strand.

“We didn’t do anything illegal,” said Brunt, 38, a former personal trainer from Brooklyn who owns Raw Talent Productions and films amateur adult movies inside his home. “If my lawyer says we have a case, then I think the county has got a real fight on its hands.”

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Brunt’s Web site, Adult.com, contains explicit scenes depicting what goes on inside the House of Sex. It urges viewers to pay the $34.95 monthly fee in order to attend parties and take part in adult videos filmed “at our beach house in Oxnard, Calif.”

“Our shoots are legally permitted so as not to worry,” the Web site states. Those who call to join are greeted with “Welcome to Adult.com, where grown-ups play!”

Brunt said parties were limited to 40 people. Those wishing to perform in sex scenes have to present certificates proving they are free of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“These are amateur adult videos; this is what I specialize in,” he said.

Collart said the county has rejected Brunt’s application for filming on March 24. A $150 check for business fees was returned to Brunt this week. Collart made it clear no more permits would be issued.

Although the county cannot legally regulate movie content, Collart said planning codes prohibit commercial filming of any kind near the coastline. A permit, therefore, should never have been issued, he said.

The employee who authorized the filming, Collart said, may have forgotten the codes are different for inland and coastal areas.

The department is sure to be more sensitive in the future, county Supervisor John Flynn said.

“I don’t think in Planning 101 that they teach you how to handle porno applications,” said Flynn, who ordered an investigation into the situation Wednesday and was prepared to push through an emergency ordinance to stop the filming. Though that now appears to be unnecessary, he said he may seek to further tighten the county’s zoning ordinances.

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“It’s a pretty sick thing to have in the neighborhood like that,” he said. “I hope this ends it.”

So too do half a dozen neighbors of the House of Sex, who said Thursday they were appalled when they learned of the activities occurring there.

“Now my daughter knows what porn is, and that’s not something I want to teach her at 8 years old,” said Victoria Callahan, who lives next door to Brunt and was among the first to become suspicious. “You could hear women screaming, even over the loud music.”

Beginning Feb. 10 and on every other Saturday since, neighbors said they saw flashing lights through the covered windows, heard loud music and watched dozens of party-goers roam the small street, sometimes knocking on the wrong doors.

“On one occasion I saw a young lady getting out of a car with stiletto heels and a skirt up to here, and said to my friend, ‘That has to be a porn queen,’ ” said 20-year resident Thelma Beck. “Turns out we were right.”

Brunt denied neighbors’ accounts of the parties, saying he filmed completely indoors with heavy rugs and curtains to curtail noise.

If he is barred from future filming, he said he’ll go elsewhere, but vowed to keep doing a live Internet sex show with his wife each evening.

“The more they make a big deal out of this the more recognition I will get,” Brunt said.

Worried about a decline in property values and the safety of their children who frequently play in the sand-covered street, neighbors say they will keep a close watch on the house.

A 24-hour hotline to the county Sheriff’s Department has been set up for residents to report any suspicious activity, said Bill Higgins, general manager of the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District, which serves as a homeowners association for the area.

“Who is going to move into a neighborhood knowing this kind of crap is going on?” longtime resident Ruth Tovey said. “He can live there, but take this stuff somewhere else.”

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The residents on Hollywood Boulevard have a history of sticking together. A few years ago they rallied to force out a family whose teenager was believed to be dealing drugs from the house.

“We’re a strong neighborhood,” Beck said. “This too will be squelched.”

Before moving to Silver Strand in October, Brunt made adult videos in his Canoga Park apartment. He was drawn to coastal Ventura County by the cooler weather.

“I don’t want to move out of Oxnard,” he said. “My attorney wants to research if the county has approved permits in any other restricted areas.”

Bill Lyon, who works for the Chatsworth-based Free Speech Coalition, said as long as Brunt is not being a nuisance, he should be left alone.

“He has a right to make movies and turn around and sell them if he wants to as long as he is doing it legally,” said Lyon, whose group is the trade association of the adult film industry. “As a free-speech issue he has a right to do what he wants inside his home.”

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Times staff writer Tina Dirmann contributed to this story.