January 19, 2012
By "adult-oriented businesses," Pacific Grove City Attorney Dave Laredo doesn't mean liquor stores or tax-prep services. His Jan. 18 staff report to the P.G. City Council makes it clear what he's talking about:
"sex-oriented bookstore, sex-oriented theater, sex-oriented motion picture arcade, sex-oriented cabaret, sex-oriented motel/hotel, and businesses that sell or distribute sex-oriented merchandise or sex-oriented material."
Gasp.
In response to scandalized residents who don't want a sex shop in their town, the City Council last night considered a resolution for a temporary moratorium on such "adult-oriented businesses."
But the council opted against the ban after hearing from Shira Diallo, the business owner proposing to open Ooh La La at 115 Central Ave.
Diallo assured the council her shop would only sell PG-13 stuff like lingerie, lotions and sexy-time candles. Maybe some R-rated sex toys, too, but not X-rated DVDs and magazines.
Diallo's Facebook page lists her as the owner of numerous other local businesses: Mary Jane'z headshop and Truffles chocolate in Monterey, and SC Studios hair salon in Seaside.
Currently, the Peninsula's only sex shop is Nu-Art Theatre in north Monterey—which does indeed sell porn.
P.G.'s PG-rated roots run deep. The town was founded by Methodists in 1875; from 1885-1912, a bell marked a nightly curfew of 10pm (earlier for children). A ban on alcohol lasted until 1969, making P.G. the last "dry" city in California. And in July 2010, the city banned marijuana dispensaries.
Comments
Malzaden says...
I am happy to see the peninsulas stuffiest community loosen up a bit. Larry Flynt gets away with saying anything he can, all over the country because people (in America) are entitled to free speech. Shouldn't the businesses they want to open be given the same freedoms?
This business should be protected by the right to free enterprise! In fact it should be mandatory that every city in the country have at least ONE store that sells vibrators...I strongly support these entrepreneurs and their rights to move forward, socially and economically.
"In America, sex is an obsession, in other parts of the world it's a fact."
-Marlene Dietrich
Posted 20 January 2012, 8:30 a.m. Suggest removal
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