RSSeXiled: Adult store owners may have to relocate
Yakima Herald-Republic
Jeff Sorenson, owner of Grapevine novelties and video in Yakima, stands in the doorway to his business Thursday. A proposed Yakima city ordinance -- one that would prevent businesses like Grapevine from being located within 500 feet of a church, park or school -- may force Sorenson to move his business.
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Five members of the council, including Mayor Dave Edler, said Thursday they were unaware that an ordinance with so much potential for political mischief was being actively promoted by city staff.
"I quite honestly haven't heard anything about this," Edler said in a tersely worded voicemail message. "I'm thinking I was either in La La Land when they were talking about it, or it's something coming our way. Anyway, I don't really have anything to say about it."
Fellow council members Micah Cawley, Neil McClure, Kathy Coffey and Bill Lover said they, too ,were unaware of the proposed ordinance. McClure, in particular, sounded upset about it.
"It's going to be such a political issue, there's no question about it," he said, adding, "I would have liked to have had at least a heads-up" from city staff.
The proposed ordinance has its first hearing before the Regional Planning Commission next week. Unlike establishments offering live sexually explicit entertainment, such as nude dancing, there is currently no specific zoning for adult-oriented stores.
As drafted, the proposed ordinance would prohibit stores specializing in the sale of pornographic movies or magazines, sex toys and other adult accessories from being within 500 feet of schools, parks, churches or residential neighborhoods.
Existing businesses would have one year to comply. The proposed ordinance also would prohibit such businesses from being within 1,500 feet of each other, a provision intended to prevent so-called red-light districts.
The various buffers would force at least two businesses, Grapevine and Eve's Garden, to relocate or close and could affect two similar businesses in the downtown area.
Grapevine is at 801 Summitview Ave., a site that is not only right next to several small churches but also just under 1,500 feet from Eve's Garden, located at 605 W. Lincoln Ave.
Grapevine owner Jeff Sorenson has been notified by the city of the ordinance's potential effect on his business and said several meetings he's had with city officials on the subject have been civil.
Finding a new location for his business is harder than it sounds, Sorenson said.
"There doesn't seem to be much they can do for me," he said. "Most of the time it ends with them looking at me and saying, 'You might want to just close down rather than deal with all these hassles."
Several of Sorenson's neighbors said they either didn't have a problem with Grapevine or weren't sure what to make of the controversy.
"To be honest, a lot of people don't even know what it is," said Maria Santana, a hair stylist at Fantasy Hair Design across the street. "Personally, it doesn't affect us."
Linda DeBord, owner of the neighboring Balloons By Design, said she was one of those who didn't know until Thursday what Grapevine sold and now has mixed feelings.
Nevertheless, she recalled that her initial fears about a new tattoo parlor that moved in next door several years ago proved groundless.
"They're actually great people," she said of the tattoo parlor owners, adding, "It's a free country. How much do you let the government control?"
Eve's Garden owner Tracy Tobia said she's frustrated that her business, which has operated for 15 years without controversy, is suddenly an issue.
The ordinance is too restrictive, especially the residential neighborhood buffer, she complained. "Everywhere that you go in this town, right behind it is residential," she said.
Bill Cook, the city's community and economic development director, said the ordinance was drafted as restrictively as possible using "state of the art" regulations that have passed legal challenges in other communities.
"This is the extent of authority as we understand it in the state of Washington," he said. "I don't think the council can go any further, but they certainly can amend or modify."
Cook added his belief that there are a number of areas in the city where businesses like Grapevine and Eve's Garden can relocate -- he specifically cited Fruitvale Boulevard, North First Street and the downtown business district -- and said legal precedent forbids cities from adopting overly restrictive codes that effectively zone adult-oriented businesses out of existence.
According to Cook, the lack of regulatory oversight became apparent a year and a half ago when a neighboring church objected to Grapevine's original location at 5015 Tieton Drive.
Because city planners had given the Grapevine owner Sorenson bad advice about the location, which was not zoned retail, the city ended up forking over $15,000 to help him relocate.
The mistake called attention to the issue, Cook said, although he was vague about who decided to act on it. "We're just trying to clarify where they (adult video stores) can go," he said.
But most members of the council said they didn't ask city staff to clarify anything.
McClure said he found it "hard to believe" that city staff would put so much work into such an ordinance -- complete with detailed color-coded maps showing the various buffer zones -- without explicit instruction from the council.
"The more likely scenario is somebody on the council said something," he said. "But I don't know who."
Fellow council member Cawley, however, supported Cook's explanation that the Grapevine relocation raised the issue and that city staff simply acted on it.
"I think it's an important issue," he said, adding, "It is true the council has not been in the fold on this as much as we normally would be."
* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.
* The proposed ordinance will get its first review before a Regional Planning Commission hearing 3 p.m Thursday, June 19, at Yakima City Hall, 129 N. Second St.
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