Staff graphic by Stewart Moon
Businesses such as adult bookstores and cabarets are now restricted to certain locations in Monroe County.
Friday, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance that would regulate adult-oriented businesses — things such as lingerie modeling studios or adult theaters — to about 45 properties in the county, mostly along the Ind. 37 corridor.
The ordinance was approved by the Monroe County Plan Commission in May, part of a series of ordinances designed to guide growth and prevent problems around the I-69 corridor.
The adult-oriented business ordinance will regulate the secondary effects these businesses could bring to the area, but cannot ban them outright because that would violate the First Amendment.
“We can’t regulate them out, but we can make sure we protect the neighboring property owners,” said assistant planning director Jason Eakin.
The ordinance divides businesses into nine permitted uses: adult arcade, adult cabaret, adult media store, adult retail store, adult motion picture theater, adult theater, escort agency, lingerie modeling studio and nude or semi-nude model studio. The ordinance also makes distinctions between on-site business, such as a movie theater, where adult entertainment is offered on premises, and off-site business, such as a bookstore, where materials are purchased to take away.
There are buffer requirements for each type of business, but they would apply only to businesses with more than 40 percent of their public area or stock related to adult-oriented items.
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