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LITTLE TRAVERSE TOWNSHIP CONSIDERS ADULT-BUSINESS ORDINANCE:
MOELLER INDUSTRIAL PARK FAVORED TO BE DESIGNATED BUSINESS SITE
By: Andy Powell, Staff Writer 11-19-07 12:30 a.m. PDT
Little Traverse Township is considering adopting its own Adult-Business ordinance, or amending its present zoning ordinance, similar to the one Emmet County adopted in the early part of 2007.
Little Traverse is one of four (4) townships in the county that has its own zoning laws; the other twelve 12 townships are under county zoning ordinances in Michigan.
Supervisor Bill Dohm reviewed the process for the board of trustees at their meeting on Wednesday November 14th, 2007.
He asked the trustees to attend West Traverse Township’s second public hearing on its own proposed adult-business ordinance. Dohm stated that he anticipated that Little Traverse Township will follow the same process as West Traverse County.
“I’m ready to proceed on that basis. Joel Wurster, our attorney, is comfortable with it so that if the process is followed and the legislative history is documented, and we’re comfortable with it, we can adopt it." states Dohm.
“We have to be very careful to cover all the bases, so that if we ever face the issue, we have a place to put them (adult businesses), which we can’t prohibit but we can regulate.”
He said the Little Traverse adult-business ordinance will be similar to the one adopted by the county last March. Dohm said that at the township’s zoning board meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, he will play the county’s tape of a specialist attorney’s views on the law. He asked township board members to sit in on the meeting so that they hear the tape before voting on the proposal.
Dohm said that Randy Frykberg, the township’s zoning consultant, is reviewing areas of the township that could be designated for adult businesses.
“You have to permit these businesses, and you have to be fair about it, but you have to look at the negative secondary effect on the community,” he said.
Dohm states that the township is considering designating the Moeller Industrial Park area in the township as the designated area for adult businesses. He said the industrial park meets all the criteria, but other areas may have to be considered as well.
When asked will this pertain to both Gay and heterosexual establisihments, Dohm stated “Those are things we’ll evaluate during the process,” he said.
Dohm said that once adopted, the ordinance should be reviewed every year to keep it current.
Last March the Emmet County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted changes to the adult-business section of the county’s zoning ordinance. The county’s consultant, specialist attorney Scott Bergthold of Chattanooga, Tenn., said at the time that he believed the combination of a strong, defensible ordinance and a limited market for sexually oriented businesses left Emmet County well protected.
The county began the process of updating its adult business ordinance after a federal judge approved a settlement between the county and the owner of an adult video and novelty store, giving the store the ability to operate along U.S. 131 south of Petoskey on a long-term basis.
The company, which operates the adult-themed XPectations store on U.S. 131, filed suit against the county last year in 2006, arguing that county zoning provisions which restrict placement of adult-themed businesses would chill and burden the company in exercising constitutionally-protected expressions.
