WEST CHESTER TWP. — Officials here want to make it tougher to open and operate a sexually oriented business in this fast-growing suburb strategically located along Interstate 75 between Cincinnati and Dayton.

        Township officials are planning to tighten their licensing and zoning codes for sexually oriented businesses, an idea that arose after a comment made during a recent campaign by one mall developer against another,

        “The sex industry is simply not part of what we consider a diversified economic base for our community,” Trustee Catherine Stoker said. “There apparently is a constitutional right for people to dance about almost naked in public but I just don't see why they need to dance in West Chester.”

Jeff Busemeyer, manager of the Pik Kwik on Ohio 747, check their adult magazine selection (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        West Chester leaders are not alone in their desire to regulate such businesses.

        In Northern Kentucky, municipalities in Kenton and Campbell counties are considering a study on regulating sexually oriented businesses; and this week Wilder city officials said they would, too, after a semi-nude dance club opened there last weekend.

        And in Fairfield, after residents recently brought it to City Council's attention, a video store that had begun selling X-rated movies voluntarily removed the selections from its shelves.

        West Chester trustees have agreed to spend up to $20,000 for the services of a Cleveland professor who is considered an expert on adult business law to review their codes once they are updated to reflect recent court decisions.

        The move comes after Continental Retail Development of Columbus launched a campaign in May against competing developers trying to build a “lifestyle center” at Cincinnati-Dayton Road and Interstate 75. The strategy suggested that approval of the project would lead to adult businesses and traffic gridlock.

        The lifestyle center was turned down by the township and is on hold pending a court appeal and rezoning. But the campaign underscored the need, township officials say, to examine their zoning and other rules related to sexually oriented businesses and make sure they are airtight as West Chester booms and becomes a hub between Cincinnati and Dayton.

        “Significant concern has been raised about our enforceability on those regulations and I was concerned about those, too,” West Chester Planning and Zoning Director Brian Elliff told trustees. “I don't think it will happen but now that it's out in the open. I don't want anybody to get some ideas that they can come in here.”

        Phil Burress, president of the anti-pornography group Citizens for Community Values, recently met with Mr. Elliff and Township Administrator Dave Gully to discuss sexually oriented businesses in West Chester. On Wednesday, Mr. Burress said a CCV attorney reviewed the township's codes and found holes.

        West Chester has four sexually oriented businesses — two stores that sell various items, one gas station that sells adult magazines and one video store, Mr. Burress said. There are no massage parlors or adult clubs, though a club did once briefly operate at I-75 and Cincinnati-Dayton Road.

        “West Chester is a prime location for adult businesses,” said Mr. Burress, a West Chester resident. “We are kind of heading in the wrong direction here. One business has opened a quarter of a mile from my house. This is not good news. These people sneak in, the trend starts and before you know it you have a strip club or book store.”

        Officials aren't yet sure what exactly will be changed in their codes but say they are likely to adopt a model ordinance Cleveland State University professor Alan Weinstein already has developed based on his expertise with First Amendment law. .

        Jimmy Flynt, who has made a career out of gauging the public's sexual appetite, says such moves often are more trouble than they are worth for municipalities.

        “Most of these experts that they reach out and hire usually shoot the city in the foot,” said Mr. Flynt, brother of Hustler founder Larry Flynt and operator of the Hustler of Hollywood store in Monroe. “They either underdo it or overdo it. We still have our rights to do business.”

        Jimmy Flynt said he has no plans to expand into West Chester, though he, too, agrees it is a prime location for adult businesses.

        “I don't want to be in West Chester. That's where the cake eaters are,” he said. “I want to be up where we eat cornbread.”

        Sexually oriented businesses in West Chester now can operate only in specific areas zoned for general business and must go for review before the board of zoning appeals before opening.

        Locations where adult businesses can go are scattered throughout the township, Mr. Elliff said, but according to the zoning map, a heavily concentrated spot runs along the Cincinnati-Dayton Road/I-75 corridor. That road is being widened from two to five lanes.

        News that the township was updating its sexually oriented business codes drew lukewarm response this week from sex establishment operators.

        The oldest one in West Chester, Pik Kwik Market off Ohio 747, has sold sex toys, oils, magazines, movies and other items for 30 years.

        “Sex is a beautiful thing,” manager Jeff Busemeyer said. “If they don't like what we're selling here, don't come in. Would they rather us get some guns in here and start selling guns?”

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