DELTA, B.C. - City Council members have approved a zoning bylaw prohibiting the sale of and rental of adult entertainment products in Delta, a community of 100,000 just south of Vancouver.
The new regulations would only affect new video stores, with existing businesses classed as "legally non-conforming." There are currently five video stores renting porn in Delta, and three stores selling adult novelties, magazines and lingerie.
Although the bylaw cannot take effect without a public hearing on the matter, reports indicate that the council is pushing hard for the ban.
"If we're going to be a bunch of prudes, we might as well cover all the bases," said Vicki Huntington, who convinced her fellow council members to include production of adult videos in the ban. "There have been rumors about people making adult movies in an industrial area and I thought we should add that as well."
According to an article in The Leader, the regulations are designed to eliminate a loophole created when the municipality imposed a ban on adult stores in one housing project without extending it to the rest of the community. The zoning amendment was drafted shortly after an adult video store leased property in North Delta; that store has not yet opened.
Huntington said that outlawing porn videos fits with her agenda to clean up the community. "It's to ensure the livability of every area," she said.
Only one councilman, Robert Campbell, voted against the XXX ban on Monday, arguing that such a policy could subject the municipality to a Charter of Rights challenge. Campbell also noted that adult material is readily accessible via the internet and cable television.
"We're tilting at windmills here, and I think we have better things to do," Campbell said.
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