Aqua
07-10-2007, 05:05 PM
(SF)
Original Story Here (http://www.click2houston.com/travelgetaways/13644017/detail.html)
It's Tough To Prohibit Adult Entertainment Venues
POSTED: 7:27 am CDT July 9, 2007
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Mayor James Cassella says he isn't trying to create a red-light district by designating a zone near Giants Stadium where adult-oriented businesses can operate.
But he says it's a better option than giving these businesses - including strip clubs, adult bookstores and go-go bars - the green light to operate closer to homes, schools and businesses in the heart of town.
"We're trying to prevent them from winding up near our schools, places of worship, family oriented establishments," he said, standing in the proposed adult business zone as 18-wheelers zoomed by. The area is comprised of 17 parcels in a mostly industrial area, where a river borders the zone and the sports complex.
East Rutherford, like many cities across the country, is finding it's in a tough spot trying to prohibit adult entertainment venues.
They can either fight them, and likely lose in court because of free speech laws, or risk creating de-facto red-light districts through zoning.
East Rutherford is hardly alone, even in New Jersey, and is trying to learn from past failures of other municipalities.
Last year, Fairfield designated a district where adult businesses would be located after the Essex Adult Emporium opened in January 2006. The town and store on Route 46 have been battling in court since.
The store, which bills itself as New Jersey's "premier adult superstore" with 5,000 square feet of DVDs, "romantic accessories," and exotic clothing, can stay, according to a judge's ruling last month. An attorney for Fairfield, Bennett Stern, said the township will appeal.
Attorneys for the store did not return several calls to The Associated Press.
In another part of the state, Bloomingdale last month approved zoning regulations for adult entertainment, including arcades, book or video stores, cabarets, theaters and other businesses. They must be screened by plantings or a fence to "impede the view of the interior."
Often, towns scramble to make restrictive zoning laws after an adult an entertainment business pops up in an area, said Bruce Calvin, manager of the municipal reference services for the National League of Cities.
That's what happened in Lake Hallie, Wis., population 6,000, when an adult-oriented store called Pure Pleasures came to town.
"People were up it arms about it and asked the town at that time to come up with type of ordinance," said Chief of Police Gale Haas. The town, about 280 miles northwest of Madison, passed a zoning law restricting adult businesses in 1998.
Even big cities have taken the approach of creating a designated district. Boston created one more than 30 years ago on the outskirts of Chinatown, said William Sinnott, the city's lawyer.
"By our regulating it, the city was able to, I think, rein in some of the activity," he said, adding that the district now is made up of about two strip clubs and an adult bookstore.
Tom Murphy, a former mayor of Pittsburgh and senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute, said the adult entertainment market seems to be shifting to the Internet and movies at home - good news for cities trying to prohibit them.
But creating a district, especially near the sports complex, could invite trouble, he said.
"At the Meadowlands, you're getting a lot of crowds and they might be looking for additional thrills," he said. "I think they need to be proactive, but they could well end up creating adult entertainment district in one area."
Cassella said the entire Meadowlands area within East Rutherford is designated as an adult entertainment area, and the borough is trying to reduce it.
"What else should we do, leave it wide open?" he said. "If there was a way to prohibit them, we would."
Original Story Here (http://www.click2houston.com/travelgetaways/13644017/detail.html)
It's Tough To Prohibit Adult Entertainment Venues
POSTED: 7:27 am CDT July 9, 2007
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Mayor James Cassella says he isn't trying to create a red-light district by designating a zone near Giants Stadium where adult-oriented businesses can operate.
But he says it's a better option than giving these businesses - including strip clubs, adult bookstores and go-go bars - the green light to operate closer to homes, schools and businesses in the heart of town.
"We're trying to prevent them from winding up near our schools, places of worship, family oriented establishments," he said, standing in the proposed adult business zone as 18-wheelers zoomed by. The area is comprised of 17 parcels in a mostly industrial area, where a river borders the zone and the sports complex.
East Rutherford, like many cities across the country, is finding it's in a tough spot trying to prohibit adult entertainment venues.
They can either fight them, and likely lose in court because of free speech laws, or risk creating de-facto red-light districts through zoning.
East Rutherford is hardly alone, even in New Jersey, and is trying to learn from past failures of other municipalities.
Last year, Fairfield designated a district where adult businesses would be located after the Essex Adult Emporium opened in January 2006. The town and store on Route 46 have been battling in court since.
The store, which bills itself as New Jersey's "premier adult superstore" with 5,000 square feet of DVDs, "romantic accessories," and exotic clothing, can stay, according to a judge's ruling last month. An attorney for Fairfield, Bennett Stern, said the township will appeal.
Attorneys for the store did not return several calls to The Associated Press.
In another part of the state, Bloomingdale last month approved zoning regulations for adult entertainment, including arcades, book or video stores, cabarets, theaters and other businesses. They must be screened by plantings or a fence to "impede the view of the interior."
Often, towns scramble to make restrictive zoning laws after an adult an entertainment business pops up in an area, said Bruce Calvin, manager of the municipal reference services for the National League of Cities.
That's what happened in Lake Hallie, Wis., population 6,000, when an adult-oriented store called Pure Pleasures came to town.
"People were up it arms about it and asked the town at that time to come up with type of ordinance," said Chief of Police Gale Haas. The town, about 280 miles northwest of Madison, passed a zoning law restricting adult businesses in 1998.
Even big cities have taken the approach of creating a designated district. Boston created one more than 30 years ago on the outskirts of Chinatown, said William Sinnott, the city's lawyer.
"By our regulating it, the city was able to, I think, rein in some of the activity," he said, adding that the district now is made up of about two strip clubs and an adult bookstore.
Tom Murphy, a former mayor of Pittsburgh and senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute, said the adult entertainment market seems to be shifting to the Internet and movies at home - good news for cities trying to prohibit them.
But creating a district, especially near the sports complex, could invite trouble, he said.
"At the Meadowlands, you're getting a lot of crowds and they might be looking for additional thrills," he said. "I think they need to be proactive, but they could well end up creating adult entertainment district in one area."
Cassella said the entire Meadowlands area within East Rutherford is designated as an adult entertainment area, and the borough is trying to reduce it.
"What else should we do, leave it wide open?" he said. "If there was a way to prohibit them, we would."