Florida City Struggles with Adult Zoning Laws

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The city commission has rejected another proposed location ordinance for adult-oriented businesses. According to a recent report, this is the commission's fourth attempt to define where adult entertainment can locate in the city.

The board then created another measure allowing adult businesses along a major boulevard throughout the entire city.

“The courts say you only need one zone. I see absolutely no reason to create more of these zones than we have to,” Commissioner Don Crichlow told The St. Augustine Review. “Why in the heck create three or four zones when we only need one. We have to do what is best for the city.”

The proposal would have restricted adult businesses to three areas of the city, none of them directly next to residences.

“Having a single zone creates a red light district,” Commissioner George Gardner told The St. Augustine Review. “That clustering is what scares the hell out of me.”

According to The St. Augustine Record, the public blasted city commissioners for the city's three previously proposed designated areas for adult entertainment, because they allowed adult businesses to locate in several different areas throughout the city.

Previously, the city did not have regulations for adult businesses and in an attempt to be proactive, the city passed two ordinances regulating the businesses' operations.