LA PALMA : Zoning Law Is Strict for Adult Businesses
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To put strict controls on any adult-oriented businesses that might locate in La Palma, the City Council has enacted a sweeping ordinance requiring that they be at least 300 feet from residential areas.
Though the city has no X-rated bookstores and nude dancing shows now, the ordinance, effective immediately, makes it possible to control the location of any such business, City Manager Daniel E. Keen said at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
The city recently received inquiries from representatives of an adult business, Keen said.
The businesses may not be prohibited, according to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, but cities “can regulate for adverse impact,” City Atty. Joel Kuperberg said.
La Palma’s ordinance was modeled after laws in other cities in Orange County, Kuperberg said. It requires that any adult-oriented business “be at least 300 feet from residential use, or separated by a freeway or Coyote Creek drainage channel.”
Kuperberg said the location restriction effectively means that an industrial area is the only place in La Palma where an adult business could open.
“We are not regulating the content of the business,” he said. “We are regulating those businesses for secondary effect.”
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