MISSION VIEJO : Laws OKd Limiting Adult Businesses

The City Council this week passed three ordinances regulating adult businesses in what council members hope is a preemptive strike against pornography.

The laws include a ban on nudity, tight regulations on massage parlors and restrictions on adult businesses to four areas.

Council members hope the ordinances, totaling 37 pages, will deter adult businesses from locating in Mission Viejo. No adult businesses exist in Mission Viejo, although one massage parlor will be affected by the new city laws.

“I think when they look at our ordinances, (adult businesses) will want to go somewhere else,” said Councilman Robert D. Breton.

City officials had expected a large turnout from residents living near the adult business zones. However, after a year of controversy marked by more than a dozen public hearings and workshops, only a few citizens spoke against the anti-pornography package.

“As a community, we understand and accept the need for an adult business ordinance,” said Betty Porche. “However, we feel the areas you have chosen for (adult business) zoning will create slum areas.”

In the past, more than a hundred people have attended meetings to protest the ordinance. Council members said the small turnout Monday showed that the many hearings and workshops held in the past year made it clear that the U.S. Constitution forbids an outright ban on adult businesses.

“This community has come 180 degrees in its understanding of our dilemma,” Breton said. “We are bound by the First Amendment protection of freedom of expression. We can’t restrict their right to communicate.”

The creation of overlay zones in less desirable areas of the city was the best way to protect residents from the offshoots of adult businesses, such as higher crime rates, said city staff.

A maximum of nine adult businesses will be allowed in the city.

The adult business ordinance passed on a 3-1 vote. Councilman William S. Craycraft objected to one zone off El Toro Road north of Marguerite Parkway because children walk through the area after school.

Under the anti-nudity law, topless and nude dancing is prohibited. The massage ordinance requires masseuses to have at least 100 hours of training.