SALISBURY, MD – City Council Vice President Gary Comegys was not happy to find an adult bookstore doing business next to a boxing club that provides services to underprivileged children and across from what he deemed a “cultural landmark.” Unhappily for Comegys, the phone call he made to Salisbury Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman did not make him feel better.“Unfortunately,” the mayor informed him, “it’s legal.”
Comegys would probably not have been pleased to find The Salisbury News Agency located anywhere within the city limits given that he believes “it’s not appropriate anyhow,” but the fact it doesn’t violate obscenity codes and also isn’t in violation of any zoning codes has made him even less cheerful.
As Parsons Tilghman explained it, the property – like others adjacent – is classified as a retail establishment and has been deemed “just a bookstore” by inspectors. “We live in a free society,” she explained. “Unfortunately, it’s legal.”
Not only is it legal, the bookstore in question has a business license, which is all an adult oriented shop needs, according to Davis Ruark, the Wicomico County State’s Attorney. Ruark observed that some jurisdictions have restricted the placement of adult businesses by enacting zoning laws that keep them from churches, schools, or hospitals, among other areas deemed sensitive to the presence of mature materials. “The areas that have been successful,” he pointed out, “have dealt with them through the area of zoning, not criminal law.”
Although free to do business, this and the other two adult businesses in Salisbury must follow certain rules set up during the early 1900s, when a business was accused of indecency, although it was never charged with a crime. Among those rules is a requirement that a clear line of sight exist between the store manager and any booths, rooms, or cubicles set up for the private viewing of materials. Said rooms have a maximum number of occupants and a limit to the activities permitted inside of them. Lighting must be minimal, walls must be solid, and both walls and floors must be easy to clean. Although less than attractive, the bright yellow and red signs covering the windows of The Salisbury News Agency not only alert shoppers to the store’s presence, but also make sure minors and others can not peer inside and see objects better left unseen – another city requirement. Fulfilling these legally essential needs, however, is not enough for those who oppose the existence of the store on principle. They would prefer to see not only The Salisbury News Agency and the two other existing Salisbury adult shops forced out of business, but no adult businesses to be allowed in the city at all.
That, however, would be unconstitutional.
As city attorney Paul Wilber reminds unhappy citizens, “When you’re dealing with adult material, regulation is balanced against First Amendment Rights.” These rights, he explained, allow for the sale of most materials, including non-obscene but sexually explicit materials.
According to Captain Mark Tyler, a 1991 ordinance allows police to visit stores that sell adult merchandise and make sure they are in compliance. If anything appears questionable, an officer can confiscate it and have it researched. Tyler says that usually items are not deemed obscene and are thus returned.
Ultimately, legal or not, Comegys and others like him simply want The Salisbury News Agency and other adult establishments and their customers to go away and never return. “It invites clientele that is not desirable,” he concludes. “It’s just poor taste.”
