OCEAN CITY, Md. - The mayor and city council in this beachside resort on the Atlantic coast are close to finalizing the city's first-ever sexually oriented businesses ordinances. A city-official work session this week capped a year-long review of needs, assessments and considerations and found the group had reached consensus, according to the The Dispatch, a local newspaper.
Two ordinances - one governing zoning and the other governing licensing and operation of all things adult entertainment-related - are expected to be passed on their first reading before an open council session on Monday night.
The first ordinance outlines where SOBs may be located: They must be at least 600 feet from "protected areas" and at least 300 feet from residences. Protected areas include schools, churches, recreational parks, the beach, the boardwalk and family- or children-oriented entertainment venues.
Adult businesses may be open only between the hours of 10 a.m. and midnight, and all patrons must be 18 years of age or older.
The ordinance restricts new adult businesses to a two-acre parcel of land described by the newspaper as "in front of the Food Lion Shopping Center." The area contains only .09 percent of the developable territory in the city.
Ocean City's only extant adult business is located outside that zone, but will be allowed to remain where it is as long as ownership doesn't change. It will not be allowed to apply for any new licenses that expand its current use.
The second ordinance is "lengthy and extensive," according to The Dispatch. It defines what city fathers consider an SOB: "an adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult novelty store, adult video store, adult cabaret, adult motel, adult motion picture theater, adult theater, escort agency, semi-nude model studio or sexual encounter center." In addition, it requires SOBs and their employees to be licensed, and it defines prohibited activities.
"There shall be no outside hawking, soliciting of customers, electronic displays or dissemination of promotional materials," the ordinance reads. "Window displays visible from the outside shall not include sexually explicit materials, products, displays or messages."
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