By Peter Berton
HENDERSON, Nev. – After local government expanded the districts in which adult businesses can set up shop, the residents of an affluent Las Vegas suburb delivered a non-negotiable message to city fathers: Keep porn in Las Vegas where it belongs.
“Keep the sin in Sin City,” Henderson resident Steve Stevenson demanded during a recent city council meeting.
A tearful Sherri Miller told Fox News, “They can go to the Strip if they want to see that kind of thing, but my neighborhood is family[-oriented].”
Although the specter of sin slithering into suburbia always makes for titillating news copy — hence the coverage by Fox — the brouhaha that has erupted in Henderson is a little strange. The council expanded the zoning for adult shops only because a 20-year-old municipal ordinance required adjustments to accommodate Henderson’s explosive population and commercial growth.
The new law is far from porn-friendly. All adult bookstores and novelty shops must locate in industrial areas, and strip clubs are not allowed anywhere. As well, the city increased the distance that must be maintained between adult enterprises and schools, churches and homes from 1,000 to 1,500 feet. No abeyances will be granted, a city spokesperson noted.
In addition, sales of graphic adult items must not exceed 10 percent of a store’s obscene profits. The balance must come from products like candles, lotions and lingerie.
Henderson’s new ordinance pleases neither upstanding citizens nor adult store owners. Edward Wheeler said he spent $20,000 in permits and legal fees, plus five years negotiating with city officials, to open The Love Store in Henderson. Wheeler already operates two stores within the Las Vegas city limits.
He also told Fox News the revised zoning law seems aimed at keeping The Love Store out of the suburban enclave, despite his insistence the shop is a “boutique that has a certain portion [of merchandise] that might be classified as adult.” In fact, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Wheeler is willing to forgo selling adult DVDs in order to comply with Henderson’s regulations, but the city said no dice.
“We were just trying to do business; bring in 20 to 30 jobs,” Wheeler said. “I would have never spent the money had they been straight [with me] from the beginning.”
Given that Sin City’s forbidden delights are within a five-minute drive of Henderson, it isn’t clear why local officials believe Vegas’ vice merchants are eager to descend upon their uptight suburb, especially when so many Henderson residents likely shop and play in Sin City already.
Perhaps after viewing one too many trailers for the soon-to-be-released Fifty Shades of Grey movie, Henderson’s repressed haus fraus worry even candles, lotions and lingerie would tip them right over the edge into public debauchery.
