LUZERNE COUNTY, PA – The Kingston Township Board of Supervisors isn’t aware of any adult businesses intending to open up shop within the 14 square mile area covered by the small town in northeastern Pennsylvania, but the board plans to revise the township’s zoning ordinance for adult businesses, just in case one comes along.Supervisor David Jenkins told the Citzens’ Voice that the township’s zoning ordinance has not been comprehensively updated in 30 years and the ordinance could be vulnerable to challenge, accordingly.
“We continue to look at our ordinances for upgrades,” Jenkins said. “It has been some time since we revised it. “There are things in the current ordinance that could be challenged.”
Jenkins said he is unaware of any adult businesses intending to locate in Kingston, a small patch of northern Luzerne County near Shavertown and Trucksville and the Board’s revision of the ordinance is a purely “defensive” maneuver.
The current ordinance, drafted in 1976, refers to adult entertainment businesses as “public nuisances,” and provides for fining such businesses, but does not provide specific guidelines in which such businesses may legally operate.
The current draft of the proposed ordinance reportedly requires adult massage parlors, adult bookstores, nightclubs, restaurants, and “other entertainment venues” to be more than 250 feet removed from the nearest residential area, park, place of worship, school, and child care facility. The ordinance also prohibits such businesses from being located on lots less than two acres in size and dictates that the businesses must provide off-street parking.
Under the current draft of the proposal, buildings hosting adult businesses would be required to create and maintain a “buffer zone” around the venue, obstructing it view with a stone wall at least eight feet high or a fence and two “staggered rows” of trees at least six feet tall, according to the Citizens’ Voice.
The proposal would also require adult businesses to submit applications to the township zoning officer and include a detailed list of features and intended uses of the business as part of the licensing process.
Jenkins said he doesn’t expect the measure to encounter any resistance at the local level.
“I see Kingston Township welcoming board action to strengthen an ordinance on indecency,” said Jenkins.
A public hearing on the zoning proposal is scheduled for 7:30 pm, August 9th.
