Council postpones vote on sex-oriented business law

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- City officials are rewriting a proposed

sex-oriented business ordinance, taking into account the difference

between lewd behavior and the rights of nudists and naturists.

City Council voted 4 to 2 Monday, with council members Dave Sullivan

and Pam Julien dissenting and Councilman Tom Harman absent, to postpone

deciding on the ordinance until its next meeting because of the possible

affects it may have on those who choose nudity as a lifestyle.

“I think we should just pass this,” Sullivan said, adding that the

ordinance proposal has been delayed for too long. “Every meeting we get

comments from the naturalists or the Flamingo Theater [a strip club in

the city], but we need to move forward.”

Earlier this month, the council approved the first reading of the

ordinance, which expanded operation hours for sex-oriented businesses,

restricted completely nude dancers to an elevated stage and set a 6-foot

distance between all performers -- clothed or not -- between dancers and

patrons.

City Atty. Gail Hutton said that while it is discouraging to delay the

ordinance again, it is the better path.

The city, she added, has been speaking with naturists and nudists

concerned about the ordinance’s wording that targets public nudity, and

not specifically sex-oriented businesses, as the cause of negative

secondary effects.

The proposed ordinance states that public nudity has triggered mob

violence and vandalism around the Huntington Beach Pier in the past, and

can contribute to prostitution and sexual activity when coupled with a

sex-oriented business.

“I think the idea of an ordinance directed at sex-oriented businesses

is a good one,” said Allen Baylis, a naturist for 26 years. “But not if

it interferes with our family-oriented lifestyle.”

Marianne Handle, a representative of the Naturist Action Committee,

commended the city for proposing the ordinance, adding that it will do

its job when it’s complete.

“There is a distinction between nudity and public lewd” and lascivious

behavior, Mayor Dave Garofalo said. “But if life can be as simple as

changing some wording to respect the civil rights of others, we should do

it.”