Adult venues not held to zone -- Restrictions placed on locations near churches, schools, parks and shops selling liquor

Adult venues not held to zone -- Restrictions placed on locations near churches, schools, parks and shops selling liquor

KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 08/14/07
Adult entertainment businesses will be able to set up shop in dozens of parcels in St. Augustine because of action the City Commission took Monday.The commission amended an ordinance Monday that took a proposal to contain adult entertainment to four parcels of land and changed it to sprinkle it throughout the city."We went from only four parcels of land to literally dozens of places adult entertainment could go," said City Commissioner Don Crichlow. "I cannot in good conscience vote for that. It makes no sense."Crichlow was the only commissioner to vote against amending the ordinance.The amended measure allows adult entertainment in the city's most dense commercial zoning areas with restrictions: it must be 500 feet away from places that sell alcohol and 300 feet from businesses that sell only alcohol, such as ABC Liquor, and it cannot be within 300 feet of churches, schools and parks.Commissioner Susan Burk also requested the ordinance include adult entertainment businesses cannot be within 750 feet of each other.But the measure doesn't restrict the businesses from moving next to residential areas, and they could locate to several properties on State Road 312, U.S. 1 and West King Street.The original proposed ordinance would have only allowed adult entertainment in a three-block area off Ponce de Leon Boulevard north of State Road 16, but large pockets of the public were against it.However, Mark Knight, city planning and building department director, said a bar in the original proposed site is for sale, and if it closes the regulations in the amended ordinance would allow an adult entertainment business to replace it.Despite that, City Hall was filled Monday with residents who applauded the commission, literally, for amending the ordinance.Lew Norris said he moved to St. Augustine from Atlanta, Ga., where he watched a contained area of adult entertainment businesses deteriorate his neighborhood and others that surrounded it."We had prostitutes and gangs come in," he said. "(If you put the businesses in one area) you're allowing drug pushers and people like that to concentrate their efforts, too."When Crichlow gave his comments against the amended ordinance, a resident yelled out, "Put it next to your house!"And although Crichlow was the lone vote to turn down the measure, Mayor Joe Boles also said, "I'm trying to figure out what I like about this.""I wanted to put it in one area, but the public said no. So, now we have to spread the misery."The amended measure will go before the commission on Aug. 27 for final approval.The commission has already passed two ordinances that dictate how adult entertainment can operate in the city.Previously, the city did not have regulations for these businesses, which meant that they could move into any commercial area, including those near schools.
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