The Fairview Heights City Council approved a temporary agreement with the owners of Pure Pleasure Megacenter, paving the way for the adult video and novelty store to open.
The deal marks the possible end to a months-long controversy in which city officials tried to dissuade and then block the store’s owner from obtaining a business license, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.
The agreement allows the store to open with a number of restrictions, including barring it from screening movies, slide shows or magazine images to customers, as well as maintain a high-quality video surveillance system, and treat its windows with material that does not allow those outside from seeing the store’s interior, among other conditions.
Store owner Don Kleinhans would not comment, but City Attorney Al Paulson said neither side was happy with the outcome, but added that he was pleased that the store owner agreed to remove its video viewing booths from the store’s original proposal.
The city had initially filed a temporary restraining order against Kleinman to stop him from erecting the store’s building last June until the issue was settled.
As it is, the city must now grant the store a zoning variance to offset an existing ordinance that bars any adult-related business from operating within 1,000 feet of any business that sells liquor. The shop would be within 1,000 feet of Mariachi’s restaurant.
