OCEAN CITY, Md. – The Ocean City Council has extended its current moratorium on all adult oriented businesses for an additional four months.
Ocean City Planning Director Jesse Houston and City Solicitor Guy Ayres presented the Mayor and Council with two ordinances designed to restrict zoning for sexually oriented businesses while protectintg the town against First Amendment lawsuits.
The issue has been hotly debated since it arose in March, when the city’s first adult retail store, SexStyle, opened its doors. The opening caused such a controversy that the board, shortly thereafter, passed a moratorium on adult businesses, until it could draw up appropriate zoning and licensing ordinances.
With the moratorium nearing an end, Houston presented a proposed ordinance and maps that would outline exactly where sexually-oriented businesses could set up shop, reported the Ocean City Dispatch.
The zoning moratorium was set to expire on Oct. 7 and the licensing moratorium would have expired Oct. 2.
Houston’s two separate proposals both called for distance restrictions from community areas such as churches and schools; one at 600 feet and the other at 300 feet, and a 150-foot distance from any houses or apartments.
Houston’s reasoning behind drawing up two proposals was that the first, more stringent ordinance proposal would allow for a mere 29 acres of viable land for sexually-oriented businesses, which might make the city susceptible to lawsuits.
According to the Dispatch, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan was leaning towards the stricter policy for adult businesses.
Other board members were more hesitant.
“That would be my concern, that by limiting so much, you’d be inviting somebody that looks for these types of challenges,” Councilman Jay Hancock told the Dispatch. “I’m not advocating these stores, but I am advocating staying out of federal court.”
