LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Las Vegas City Council is betting a face-lift for sex shops will help reduce blight downtown.
Council members voted on Wednesday to loosen restrictions on adult bookstores and emporiums, The Las Vegas Sun reported (https://bit.ly/2xdKOEH ).
An ordinance designed to tightly restrict adult shops in hopes they would all “wither and die” was written 25 years ago, Councilman Bob Coffin said. But that hasn’t happened.
“They were too restricted by the old code,” Coffin said.
The revised ordinance applies to just six adult businesses, all of which are within two blocks of Las Vegas Boulevard. The ordinance allows the stores to change and update their buildings, but not to expand. One store so far has announced plans to update.
If any of the other adult businesses wish to do major updates, they’ll have to go through the city’s planning process. Residents will have the opportunity to offer thoughts and concerns.
“There’ll be plenty of further discussions on this,” Coffin said.
Coffin stressed that the ordinance does not green-light any more sex shops in the area and that existing stores are still limited to their current size. Still, some people feel the businesses shouldn’t have been given any additional leeway.
Residents near an adult shop off Park Paseo have been vocal in opposition to its redevelopment efforts. None of them spoke during the public-comment portion of the meeting Wednesday.
But in a letter delivered to council, John S. Park Neighborhood Association President Dayvid Figler wrote that the code change “sets the area to be a sex business district” and that “tattoo shops, pawn shops, payday loan shops and bail bonds seem to be the natural companions.”
The letter argues that adult businesses blight neighborhoods, which is why the city changed its code in 1992 to restrict them to industrial zones instead of general commercial zones near neighborhoods.
“The major problem with these businesses is not necessarily what happens inside, but what bleeds out to the residential neighborhood,” the letter stated. “Like breadcrumbs to the cottage in the wood, our neighbors find condoms and needles strewn across our neighborhood that lead directly to the one sexual business in our neighborhood.”
Capt. Andrew Walsh of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Downtown Area Command said prior to their vote that council members requested data on service calls to the businesses affected by the ordinance. The Park Paseo store had more calls for service than its peers, but the numbers weren’t considered a drain on resources.
Walsh also noted that so far this year, violent crime is down more than 15 percent in the downtown area. He attributes that to stronger partnerships with community groups and elected officials.
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Information from: Las Vegas Sun, https://www.lasvegassun.com
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