Adult Business Laws OK'd

PLANT CITY - Commissioners have taken another step toward banning total nudity and lap dances in sexually-oriented businesses.

The new laws, which would refine and toughen existing codes, were approved Monday by a 4-0 vote at the first of two public hearings. Commissioner Dan Raulerson was absent from the meeting and did not vote.

No member of the public spoke during Monday's hearing.

The second and final public hearing will be held during the commission's next meeting, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10.

The amendments establish licensing regulations for adult entertainment businesses and prohibit their operation between 2 and 6 a.m., except for adult motels.

There are no sexually-oriented businesses within city limits, but officials said they wanted updated laws on the books in case one opens.

Scott Bergthold, a lawyer who specializes in helping local governments draft ordinances pertaining to sexually-oriented businesses, called the updated regulations "state-of-the-art."

Bergthold, who worked with City Attorney Ken Buchman on refining the laws, told commissioners he based his work on tougher Hillsborough County ordinances adopted last year.

"The ordinance mirrors what is upheld in federal court," Bergthold said, "and is as strong in the city as it is in the county that surrounds it."

The new regulations would ban patrons and employees in sexually-oriented businesses from being nude. Dancers at clubs or bars, who can perform only seminude, must remain at least six feet from any customer and on a stage that is at least 18 inches from the floor. The six-foot buffer would effectively ban lap dances, which involve physical contact between the dancer and customer.

Citing studies and past court cases that documented "adverse secondary effects" of sexually-oriented businesses, Bergthold said such establishments have been linked to prostitution, public indecency, illicit sexual activity and drug use, sexual assault and exploitation, and the lower values on surrounding property.

The city last revised its adult entertainment laws in 2005, when Taurus Property Ventures sought to open a club in a former truck repair shop on the northwest corner of U.S. 92 and County Line Road. City officials said they had planned to update the adult-use codes prior to Taurus filing its application.

Taurus filed a lawsuit against the city after being denied its permit. The city cited an established ordinance that prohibited adult entertainment facilities within 1,000 feet of each other.

Taurus's establishment would have been about 650 feet away from Showgirls Men's Club just outside city limits on U.S. 92.

Taurus eventually dropped its lawsuit after losing a series of court decisions.

The public hearing is Dec. 10 at City Hall, 302 W. Reynolds St.