THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 21, 1994 TAG: 9409210423
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
In two years, adult and sexually oriented businesses won't be as visible in this northeastern county.
Monday evening, the Currituck County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance regulating where establishments featuring erotic art and entertainment may do business.
``I think the people of the county would be delighted to see the Board of Commissioners is considering this particular ordinance this evening,'' said Chairman B.U. Evans III before a public hearing.
Evans said he'd received many calls from citizens supporting the new rule. Bob Henley, vice chairman of the county economic development board, was the only person to speak at the hearing.
``I don't think this type of business is the type of business we need to project in this county,'' Henley said.
Businesses that feature adult entertainment will be allowed only in areas zoned for heavy manufacturing. They will be prohibited within 1,000 feet of existing residential, religious, public recreational or educational properties.
The measure will force the False Alarm Lounge, a nightclub in Moyock that features topless dancing, to either conform to the new regulations or close after a two-year deadline.
Mermaids, a nightclub in Point Harbor that also included seminude female dancers, lost its conditional use permit last month after a county board decided the owner had lied under oath about his intentions.
Owner Robert F. London said he changed his mind about offering topless dancers after he opened last spring. His club must close down by Oct. 15 unless the revocation is appealed before then, a county official said.
The new ordinance does not prohibit selling, renting or providing adult books, films, magazines or live entertainment that is explicitly sexual in nature.
Instead, Currituck officials will regulate where such establishments may operate.
KEYWORDS: CURRITUCK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ADULT ENTERTAINMENT by CNB