No warm welcome for adult businesses

Dallas Morning News | Wendy Hundley:

“After weeks of public debate, the Richardson City Council is set to enact strict new regulations for sexually oriented businesses. ... The distance requirements would leave only seven locations ... where strip clubs, adult stores and similar businesses would be allowed. However, there's a catch. The proposed rules allow these businesses only in commercially zoned districts. But none of the seven locations are zoned commercial. ... Richardson resident Randy Smith commends the council for drafting tough regulations for adult businesses. 'They've done a marvelous job of balancing First Amendment rights and limiting them to very narrow areas where they don't infringe upon churches and neighborhoods,' he said. Because courts have ruled that cities must provide some place for these businesses to operate, Richardson homeowner Bernie Mayoff questions whether the proposals would pass judicial muster.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Two months ago, the city council caved to the courts when the council reluctantly proposed zoning changes that would have opened an area of the city to sexually-oriented businesses. They didn't want to do it, but it was necessary to comply with state law. Local media spun the story to look like the city council was inviting sexually-oriented businesses to set up shop in Richardson, and predictably, citizens revolted.

Tonight, the city council is about to cave to the citizens. The proposed new regulations leave no place for sexually-oriented businesses to operate. That Richardson resident Randy Smith can claim this somehow "balances First Amendment rights" is astounding. The truth is that the regulations do on the sly what they don't do in the open — shut sexually-oriented businesses completely out of Richardson in violation of state law. Only if the city actually grants requests for zoning changes might courts accept that the city is complying with the law. And there's no chance homeowners will allow the council to do that.

Bernie Mayoff may not be happy to say it, but he speaks the truth to the citizens of Richardson, even though his message is unpopular. (Maybe that willingness to tell voters the plain facts is why Mr Mayoff wasn't elected when he ran for city council.)

Chalk up only a temporary reprieve for the council members. These regulations have no chance of passing judicial muster. To claim otherwise, the City Council is fooling the homeowners. And that's a shame.