By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Dec. 14, 2017) Snow Hill officials plan to adopt county government regulations that restrict adult-oriented businesses to industrial zone areas, Town Council members agreed at a work session last Tuesday.

Mayor Charlie Dorman said the town planning commission endorsed the action and a draft would be sent to Town Attorney Kevin Karpinski for review. A public hearing must be held on the ordinance before the council can formally vote on it.

The mayor and council’s action would address an apparent gap in the town code that was discovered several months ago when Annette Gibbons-Tarr, a sales consultant with network marketing business Pure Romance, asked the council if she could rent commercial space for private parties. The sales gatherings she was holding in private venues, such as homes, were not subject to government review.

Edward Phillips, vice chairman of the planning commission, said the matter of adult establishments in city limits was not addressed during a recent comprehensive rezoning discussions, essentially leaving it out of the code altogether.

“There was precedents for that,” he said. “There are other municipalities on the Eastern Shore and in Worcester County that have done just that, so that’s what we did. We reassessed that at the last meeting.”

The commission recommended allowing “adult-oriented commercial venues in the industrial area, which follows suit from the county,” Phillips said.

Phillips said the commission recommendation was unanimous.

Worcester County defines adult-oriented business any business, operation or activity that contains a significant amount of “adult entertainment or material, including, but not limited to … a cabaret, lounge, nightclub, dry nightclub, modeling studio, bar, restaurant, club, lodge, or similar establishment.”

Also included in the definition is the sale, loan, dissemination or distribution of “adult entertainment … including, but not limited to, books, magazines, newspapers, photographs, movies, videos, DVDs, CDs or other audio/video recordings, other electronic recordings, and/or coin operated or pay-per-view devices.”

Jon Hill, Snow Hill code enforcement officer, said the county defined “significant” as 20 percent or more of stock or gross profits.

He said the planning commission felt those types of businesses should not be allowed “within any other district besides the highway commercial district with the applied setbacks” of 1,200 feet from schools and churches, and 500 feet from residences.

“The privacy of someone’s home is not something we are willing to invade,” Hill added. “That should be kept private and the regulations would refer to businesses … that have within their sales or stock a significant amount of adult-oriented things.”

Dorman said the town attorney advised him to “be very careful.”

“The town is not permitted to ban adult oriented-businesses. The Supreme Court has constantly held an outright ban of adult-oriented business as unconstitutional, in violation of the First Amendment,” Dorman said, reading from a letter from Karpinski.

He added businesses could also not be “zoned out of existence.”

“[Karpinski] wants to see our ordinance, basically, before we even put it into any kind of motion,” Dorman said.

Councilwoman Alison Cook said Gibbons-Tarr discussed renting commercial space downtown for private parties by invitation only.

“I don’t have any problem … discussing a limitation on how many times that can occur per year, per month,” she said. “I think in this particular instance the regulations of Pure Romance does not allow her to have [many]. She can’t operate a storefront.

“Those are invitation only. I don’t have an issue with that,” Cook continued. “As far as First Friday [the town art stroll] goes, we have spoken to her. Discretion is of the utmost importance to us.”

Cook said she looked over the product lineup on the Pure Romance website and said only one item she could reasonably display was not appropriate. Products on the site range from bath and beauty items, to lingerie and sex toys.

“Everything else, to me, there’s not an issue. There’s nothing that you’re going to pick up and go, ‘Oh my gosh!’” she said. “I think it would be a mistake for the town to try to censor that. I think we could get in a lot of trouble for that.”

Councilwoman LaToya Purnell agreed.

“I don’t think we should regulate anything in a household, as we all agree,” she said. “First Friday, we absolutely told her, no toys, no magazines. We broke it down to her … we don’t want to disrespect anyone when it comes to that, especially children.

“If we want to set a limit on how many times she can have [private parties downtown] … I think that’s OK,” she added. “We feel like her company is kind of regulating her more than we can ever regulate her, because if they find her at fault she’s done.”

Councilwoman Jenny Hall said the issue, at this point, was something akin to “beating a dead horse.”

“We’re all on the same side here. We have to follow the constitution. We have to follow the laws from Worcester County,” she said. “We’re all on the side of public freedom and constitutionality.”