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They encourage the county to exempt nudist activities from a proposed ordinance.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 23, 2002
BROOKSVILLE -- Commissioner Betty Whitehouse intended to target potential strip joints and sex clubs when she asked staff in March to craft an antinudity law for Hernando County.
The lawyers brought back a proposal that did much more. And, in the face of a highly supportive crowd, commissioners did nothing to change that direction during their first hearing on the ordinance.
Since that April 9 session, people who enjoy nude recreation have pressed commissioners to exempt nudist clubs, parks and resorts from the rule that otherwise would not permit them, even in a private setting.
"We don't want to offend anyone," explained Richard Mason, government affairs coordinator for the Florida Naturist Association, who has sent several e-mails and documents to the county that challenge its position.
"We would like them to add, "except in areas set apart or provided therefore,' " to the ordinance, Mason said. "That's not unreasonable."
He argued that nudity does not, by itself, create the negative secondary effects that the Hernando ordinance implies. He noted that clothing-optional public beaches in Miami-Dade County do not have problems such as rape and prostitution, nor do private nude resorts in Pasco.
"The only thing this ordinance will do is criminalize the activities of naturists, backyard sunbathers behind a fence, and Boy Scouts skinny-dipping, after a hike, in a remote stream," Mason wrote to commissioners.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Kent Weissinger told commissioners in a memo that, despite arguments that the ordinance might discriminate against an "otherwise legal use of property," his office backed the proposal as "the best means of prohibiting nudity in public places."
Commissioner Diane Rowden has decided an exemption would harm no one.
What's more, Rowden said, she had trouble seeing the difference between a community setting deed restrictions and an exemption that allows nudity, if it takes place out of public sight.
"I am not against having a nudist colony in Hernando County," she concluded.
County planning and parks staff said no one has asked to open a nudist park or resort.
Whitehouse and Chairwoman Nancy Robinson signaled their willingness to reconsider the issue as well. Each has asked the county Legal Department for an analysis of the available options.
"I'll reserve my final determination for after the public hearing," Robinson said.
Whitehouse stressed that her main concern was keeping "some of the types of establishments that they have in Pasco," such as Lollipops and Calendar Girls, out of Hernando. Banning nudity in private places deemed public by ordinance might not be necessary, she said.
Commissioner Chris Kingsley, meanwhile, said he was not inclined to alter the rule because of letters that came from people who do not live in Hernando County.
The letters offer a different perspective on nudism from that presented during the first public hearing, where all but two speakers spoke of the need for public morality and several referred to the Bible.
"We are good, decent people who are opposed to most everything any responsible American would be opposed to," wrote Dean Newton of Mesa, Ariz. "The only difference is we do it naked."
"The widespread notion that nudity harms children is incorrect. It's the fear and loathing of it that does the damage," wrote Paul Rapoport of Ontario.
Dian L. Hardison of Central Florida urged the commission not to adopt the ordinance as written.
"Please do not waste your time trying to satisfy a handful of psychotic screeching malcontents who wish to force their own personal mental problems on everyone else by rule of bad, potentially unconstitutional, and certainly antifreedom law," Hardison wrote, "because they never will be satisfied until everyone else is as miserable as they are."
The public hearing is set for 5 p.m. today.
-- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government and can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com.