By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - Strip clubs and adult bookstores won't open in south Covington anytime soon.

Covington City Commission had 90 days - or until this Saturday - to overturn a September Kenton county zoning board recommendation against a sexually oriented businesses zone for a 30-acre site off Mary Laidley Drive.

The commission will wait instead for the outcome of a study being conducted on behalf of about 15 municipalities. That study, to help communities comply with the First Amendment and also limit undesirable businesses, could point to a sexually oriented businesses zone located outside of Covington.

"We're going to let the planning commission's recommendation stand, and wait for the (sexually oriented business) study to be completed,'' Covington Mayor Butch Callery said. "We're hoping the study will recommend a countywide or multicounty zone, so that everything doesn't have to be in Covington.''

The study would decide where sexually oriented businesses could locate in Kenton and Campbell counties. If approved by enough city governments, it would begin early next year and take about six months to complete.

David Schneider, vice president of H&S Chemical Co., whose property would have encompassed more than half of the proposed zone, is pleased with the city's decision.

"I think it's the right move,'' said Mr. Schneider, who is part of a second-generation family business. "I think they should do a full-blown study and actually put it in an area that everybody agrees to, which I think can be done.''

Mr. Schneider said that plans for a multimillion-dollar expansion, which he and his family members had threatened to abandon if the zone change went through, will now proceed, possibly this spring. The company, wooed to Kentucky from Ohio, plans to build a 25,000-square-foot building with labs, offices, and warehouse and manufacturing space.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that communities must provide zones for sexually oriented businesses no matter how undesirable some may find them.

The $53,000 study by Duncan and Associates, of Austin, Texas, would examine whether Kenton and Campbell counties could be considered a multicounty "community.''

It also would look at the feasibility of uniform adult entertainment regulations for the two-county area, and it would consider whether existing zones allowing adult entertainment in four Northern Kentucky cities are sufficient. Otherwise, each of the small communities in Northern Kentucky might be required to allow sexually oriented businesses.

Governments that have committed to the study include Bellevue, Covington, Crescent Springs, Crestview Hills, Erlanger, Edgewood, Fort Mitchell, Fort Wright, Independence, Park Hills, Taylor Mill, Lakeside Park, Kenton Fiscal Court and Villa Hills, said Mike Schwartz, planning services manager for the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission.

Those who have opted not to take part are Ludlow, Crestview, Woodlawn, Dayton, Mentor, Newport and Ryland Heights, he said.

Campbell County Attorney Justin Verst said that he hopes to set up a meeting soon with members of Campbell Fiscal Court and mayors in that county to answer any questions about the study and get their commitments.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com