Sex Nude
Venues too close to 'sensitive' sites face relocation or closure as a 1997 law gets enforced
The city is planning an aggressive assault on Houston's sex businesses now that a federal court has allowed enforcement of a decade-old law that toughens restrictions on where they can operate.
Houston police vice officers are working with city attorneys to determine which topless clubs, modeling studios and adult bookstores to target first.
As many as 150 businesses — including multimillion-dollar operations like Treasures and The Men's Club — could be forced to relocate or close. In the meantime, their employees face arrest.
The authority for such a crackdown comes from a 1997 ordinance. Among many sweeping provisions regulating the industry, the ordinance doubled to 1,500 feet the required distance between such businesses and "sensitive" sites like schools, parks and churches.
That provision, which also restricts the businesses from clustering together or operating near largely residential areas, has been on hold during a decade-long federal court battle.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas, however, recently decided that the city can begin enforcing the proximity section, even though another appeal is likely.
Courts already have validated other provisions in the ordinance, requiring performers to get licenses and keep a 3-foot distance from customers.
Officials say they plan to notify businesses violating the proximity rule and ask them to comply voluntarily. If they don't, their owners and employees could be arrested on a Class A misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The city also might seek civil injunctions forcing closures.
Houston police Capt. Steve Jett, who commands the department's 33-member vice unit, said he doesn't have enough officers to hit all such businesses immediately but that the goal is eventually to force them all to move or close.
The city's effort is the latest in a continuing battle against sex businesses that infuriate some residents and are viewed by Houston politicians as dens of prostitution and other crimes.
Industry executives have declined public comment, fearing they might jeopardize their legal cases or make themselves targets for police. Their attorneys also have declined repeated interview requests.
"Although it is clear that certain plaintiffs may experience significant expense and potential lost profits if the city enforces the ordinance and plaintiffs are required to relocate their businesses, the court is unpersuaded that this injury justifies granting the requested relief," the judge wrote.
Those in the industry fear what may come, worried that a crackdown could end their ability to operate profitable businesses that employ thousands and clearly have a significant customer base.
"I've been trying not to think about it," said Charles Sarpy, a manager at Club Exotica, a brightly lighted business along the Gulf Freeway that features nude female dancers.
Sex businesses closest to schools — and those that have prompted community complaints — likely will get the immediate attention, police and city officials say.
Police say the store, which also sells decorative knives and tobacco-related products that also can be used for smoking marijuana, isn't eligible to operate as a sexually oriented business because it's across the highway from Maurice L. Wolfe Elementary. The school, in Katy Independent School District, has about 475 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
"I can understand the city not wanting them next to schools," said Jennifer Mier of Houston, an employee in the store. "This is definitely not a place for kids."
Mier, like others in the industry who agreed to interviews, argues that the city is attacking businesses that some people have no problem frequenting.
"Surely they have to realize this is a multimillion-dollar industry," she said. "If people didn't want to see this kind of thing, it wouldn't be so."
But Katy ISD spokeswoman Kris Taylor said the district appreciates the city's effort, though she says Wolfe students don't walk or ride bicycles by the store to get to their school.
"Especially in a city with no zoning, that's a very important thing," she said. "Schools really applaud the effort of the city to maintain quiet, safe neighborhoods."
That's precisely what White, who inherited the ordinance passed during the administration of former Mayor Bob Lanier, said he hopes to accomplish.
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The city is planning an aggressive assault on Houston's sex businesses now that a federal court has allowed enforcement of a decade-old law that toughens restrictions on where they can operate.
Houston police vice officers are working with city attorneys to determine which topless clubs, modeling studios and adult bookstores to target first.
As many as 150 businesses — including multimillion-dollar operations like Treasures and The Men's Club — could be forced to relocate or close. In the meantime, their employees face arrest.
The authority for such a crackdown comes from a 1997 ordinance. Among many sweeping provisions regulating the industry, the ordinance doubled to 1,500 feet the required distance between such businesses and "sensitive" sites like schools, parks and churches.
That provision, which also restricts the businesses from clustering together or operating near largely residential areas, has been on hold during a decade-long federal court battle.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas, however, recently decided that the city can begin enforcing the proximity section, even though another appeal is likely.
Courts already have validated other provisions in the ordinance, requiring performers to get licenses and keep a 3-foot distance from customers.
Officials say they plan to notify businesses violating the proximity rule and ask them to comply voluntarily. If they don't, their owners and employees could be arrested on a Class A misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The city also might seek civil injunctions forcing closures.
Houston police Capt. Steve Jett, who commands the department's 33-member vice unit, said he doesn't have enough officers to hit all such businesses immediately but that the goal is eventually to force them all to move or close.
The city's effort is the latest in a continuing battle against sex businesses that infuriate some residents and are viewed by Houston politicians as dens of prostitution and other crimes.
Industry executives have declined public comment, fearing they might jeopardize their legal cases or make themselves targets for police. Their attorneys also have declined repeated interview requests.
"Although it is clear that certain plaintiffs may experience significant expense and potential lost profits if the city enforces the ordinance and plaintiffs are required to relocate their businesses, the court is unpersuaded that this injury justifies granting the requested relief," the judge wrote.
Those in the industry fear what may come, worried that a crackdown could end their ability to operate profitable businesses that employ thousands and clearly have a significant customer base.
"I've been trying not to think about it," said Charles Sarpy, a manager at Club Exotica, a brightly lighted business along the Gulf Freeway that features nude female dancers.
Sex businesses closest to schools — and those that have prompted community complaints — likely will get the immediate attention, police and city officials say.
Police say the store, which also sells decorative knives and tobacco-related products that also can be used for smoking marijuana, isn't eligible to operate as a sexually oriented business because it's across the highway from Maurice L. Wolfe Elementary. The school, in Katy Independent School District, has about 475 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
"I can understand the city not wanting them next to schools," said Jennifer Mier of Houston, an employee in the store. "This is definitely not a place for kids."
Mier, like others in the industry who agreed to interviews, argues that the city is attacking businesses that some people have no problem frequenting.
"Surely they have to realize this is a multimillion-dollar industry," she said. "If people didn't want to see this kind of thing, it wouldn't be so."
But Katy ISD spokeswoman Kris Taylor said the district appreciates the city's effort, though she says Wolfe students don't walk or ride bicycles by the store to get to their school.
"Especially in a city with no zoning, that's a very important thing," she said. "Schools really applaud the effort of the city to maintain quiet, safe neighborhoods."
That's precisely what White, who inherited the ordinance passed during the administration of former Mayor Bob Lanier, said he hopes to accomplish.
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