Some residents here say they were unaware that a Hustler Store was opening in their neighborhood, just a short distance from homes and a day care center.
Resident Carol Crawford said she only recently learned that the city had approved the store’s business license and that there had been no public hearing on the matter, the North County Journal reported this week.
Ward 5 Councilwoman Jean Montgomery said that the council unanimously approved the store after first hearing of it during an executive session. She said former City Manager Joe King brought up the store prior to his indictment on federal bribery and mail fraud charges.
Although Montgomery voted for the business, she now says she wanted to vote against it, adding that the issue should have gone through the city’s planning and zoning boards.
Stephen Ables, assistant director of the St. Louis Municipal League, said if a city is not changing a zoning category, then it likely is not required to go through planning and zoning and hold a public hearing.
The council, however, has introduced an ordinance at its Oct. 2 meeting that would restrict adult businesses from locating within a quarter mile of residences, churches, day care centers and schools. However, the ordinance was not on the council’s recent agenda.
