Hartsville wise to consider adult business ordinance

Last week, the Hartsville Planning Commission postponed sending a recommendation to Hartsville City Council for an ordinance regulating sexually-oriented businesses in the city while one of its members reviews a model ordinance after the city attorney said certain provisions of the model appear to be unconstitutional.
The move to table the issue came after City Attorney Marty Driggers told the commission that, based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, many of the provisions of a model ordinance the commission is using as a guide for developing an ordinance for the city violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The Supreme Court has ruled that attempting to regulate such businesses through permitting processes is unconstitutional because it violates the free speech provision of the First Amendment.
The city can, however, use its zoning powers and zoning ordinances to control where any such businesses may be able to locate.
There are few places in Hartsville where such a business could locate in the city limits, as is, because of zoning requirements and the number of churches.
While Hartsville reconsiders drafting an ordinance with an eye toward zoning, other municipalities and counties could do the same.
Adult-oriented businesses provide tax revenue and adult entertainment to citizens, but are fraught with a seedy element that often grows nearby when no zoning is in place. A cluster of adult-oriented businesses can foster an atmosphere for prostitution, human trafficking, other crimes and lower property values. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, as long as the laws focus on containing these “secondary effects” rather than content, the regulations meet constitutional muster.
Many people sneer at the idea of regulating businesses, but cities, towns and counties have a responsibility to promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of their citizens. On the other hand, no one wants a red light district in their backyard.
Entrepreneurs will open these types of businesses where they find strong enough demand. Nearly one in four video and DVD rentals in the United States are adult or pornographic. There are upward of 5,000 strip clubs in the nation, and Internet adult websites rake in nearly $2 billion in profits annually. Adult-oriented businesses across the country bring in profits in the neighborhood of some $10 billion per year, according to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The demand for these services exists, so it’s not an issue government can ignore.
Typical ordinances require a specific permit, a business license, open inspections of the premises to ensure compliance with the law at any time it is occupied or open for business and certain operating hours. These aren’t huge impositions — certainly nothing more than any business owner has to contend with. These types of provisions don’t limit or restrict the content and are not meant to deny access to materials by adults.
The government officials should take time to assess the individual needs and concerns of their citizens and craft adequate rules and regulations to address the issues at hand now and on the horizon.
Foresight is needed to head off problems before they boil over, and adequate zoning allows governments to keep those potential problems in specific areas and away from children.
Too often government waits for an issue to fester before it acts, but Hartsville is promptly responding to the concerns of its residents. That’s something more municipalities and counties should do.

— Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper: Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Lisa Chalian-Rock, (The Messenger editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (content manager), David Johnson (regional circulation director), Naeem Mcfadden (Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise editor), John Sweeney (The Weekly Observer editor), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).