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County rules would hem in adult shops
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Strip clubs and adult businesses will be getting less exposure in the future. The County Commission gave tentative approval to an ordinance that would push all future strip clubs and other adult businesses from Tuesday forward into designated industrial zones. The ordinance would not lift the ban on sales of alcohol in industrial areas as expected. A county consultant said the commission can do that separately if it chooses. The final decision on the proposed ordinance will come at a hearing set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Historic County Courthouse in Dade City. In setting the final hearing, commissioners near the end of a three-year battle to rein in strip clubs, lingerie modeling centers and adult bookstores. The commission tried to reassure a packed meeting at the West Pasco Government Center that the ordinance formed the best compromise between protecting residents from the crime and lower property values associated with adult clubs and avoiding more costly and unsuccessful legal battles. "We have to do something that stands up in court," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said. Commissioners worry that the clubs are setting up wherever they want without an ordinance in place. "It's the Wild West," Hildebrand said. This fall, three new businesses opened, bringing the total to 25. Most sit on U.S. 19. "We responded to public pressure, ladies and gentlemen," she said referring to last year's zoning and regulating ordinances. "It got us in trouble." Last year, a federal judge in Tampa suspended the county's adult ordinances, saying they were too restrictive and unconstitutional. The proposed ordinance says future adult clubs can only locate in industrial sites in Hudson, Odessa and near Dade City. The five industrial zones would hold up to 45 sites where adult business could locate: 22 sites behind the Odessa industrial park on State Road 54; 11 sites around New York Avenue, east of U.S. 19 but not on the highway itself; two sites north of Lock Street outside Dade City; eight sites off U.S. 301 south of Dade City; and two sites off State Road 39 south of Dade City. Clubs must sit at least 1,000 feet from residential areas, churches, schools or day care centers. The existing 25 adult businesses get to stay and must have shown by Tuesday that they already were in operation. They must also apply to the county's growth management department no later than March 14 for legal, existing status. In an attempt to prevent prostitution, the ordinance forbids any adult business to hold private rooms for use by the public, other than restrooms, that are closed off by doors or curtains. The rules didn't go far enough for many in the crowd. Kenneth Boccio, president of the Country Place Village homeowners association on State Road 54 near the Odessa industrial site, protested. Identifying 22 sites "so close to a senior community where most people invested their life savings and are retiring is not feasible," he said. Other residents, such as W.J. Smith, pleaded with the commission to appeal the court decision. The commission's consultant, Rick Fee, said the proposed ordinance sits on firm legal ground. Luke Lirot, the attorney for the adult clubs who sued the county last year, agreed. "I commend your efforts to come up with something now that seems to strike a balance," Lirot said. In other business, the Value Adjustment Board met for a repeat session Tuesday morning to redo action taken last week during a meeting that was not properly posted. During that meeting, the board cleared former state legislator Carl Littlefield of a lien. The board agreed to do so again Tuesday. Also, the county set a second public hearing date on proposed changes to the tree ordinance. Environmentalists spoke out against the suggested amendments that would eliminate the requirement to have 16 trees per every developable acre and instead base the number of trees on lot sizes. Environmentalists said they worried the change would eliminate many of the area's older oak trees and replace them with smaller trees. The next meeting was set for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Historic County Courthouse in Dade City. Also, the commission agreed to change part of its ordinance regulating dock construction but leave another part alone. Commissioners changed a provision that says boats and docks can protrude no more than 25 feet into a canal. Instead, that distance was changed to one-third of the total width of the waterway or canal. On the second part, the commission scrapped plans to change a requirement that all floating material within a dock structure must be fully encapsulated. The commission had considered exempting the top portion of the floating material that sits out of the water. But residents of Gulf Harbors and environmentalists convinced them that the Styrofoam pellets would blow and wash into the water, harming the environment. Also, the commission directed its staff to join with Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to apply to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to become eligible for its Mitigation Park Program. Under the program, the county hopes to get the state agency's help in acquiring land for its wildlife corridor. The state program obtains money for land from developers who pay into the commission's land acquisition trust to offset the impact of development. -- Saundra Amrhein covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is amrhein@sptimes.com .
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