ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Some residents are showing concern for a changing ordinance which allows adult businesses to open in dozens of locations.
Commissioners recently approved the adult entertainment law which allows adult-oriented businesses at numerous sites, but keep them mandated to certain areas.
The city commission started to discuss this issue several months ago as a pre-emptive strike to limit where adult entertainment businesses can locate.
The first attempt at an adult entertainment ordinance was scrapped in June, due to concerned residents who felt the businesses would be able to locate too close to their homes. Planners then drew up another ordinance which keeps them hundreds of feet away from parks, schools, churches and places that serve alcohol.
According to the Florida Times-Union, the expanded zones actually make more space available for adult entertainment venues. The move has created even more controversy within the city, with several residents saying they want the measure reversed
City Commissioner Don Crichlow told the Times-Union that he feels the commission was wrong to expand the zones. “I think it was a political response to an outcry from a group of people. I can't deny that it could affect property value, businesses and residents. Those concerns are real for those people. So what do you do to solve that problem? Create ten more zones just like it. To me that makes no sense.”
Nobody has applied to open an adult business in St. Augustine yet. City planning and building director Mark Knight doesn't expect adult businesses to apply.
"It's a half-hour ride to Jacksonville or an hour to Daytona where [adult entertainment] is totally unregulated," Knight told the Times-Union. "Why would you come to St. Augustine when we now have all sorts of restrictions on it?"
