WILMINGTON, N.C. - After neighborhood protest, a local adult novelty shop has removed its large, red and black sign reading “Guilty Pleasures,” but some area residents are still not satisfied.
“As long as it's still open to the public it'll be a concern to me,” Tracy Pugh, whose daughter is enrolled at the Children's Learning Center day care facility around the corner from the store, told the Wilmington Morning Star.
Parents started complaining after noticing the sign only days after Guilty Pleasures opened its doors. Though they were not required to do so, store owners immediately took the sign down.
Under the city’s definition, area officials do not consider Guilty Pleasures an “adult establishment,” so it can legally set up shop in close proximity to residential neighborhoods.
However, according to the report, some city administrators have taken issue with Guilty Pleasures’ mature window displays. Wilmington Zoning Administrator John Fullerton told the Morning Star that the amount of space the business is using to display its product line is not allowed under its approved license with the city.
City code officials visited the shop last week and found 6,000 square feet of retail floor space in use. The city allotted the store only 50 square feet of retail space, with the rest intended for warehouse use. The city claims that the owners of Guilty Pleasures presented their business as an online and mail-order operation.
Guilty Pleasures has 30 days to comply with zoning board specifications, or appeal the matter.
