Sacramento- Sacramento County officials had no easy answers for about 50 angry Orangevale residents Wednesday night during a community meeting called to talk about a new store that is selling adult DVDs, sex toys and similar merchandise just 600 feet away from Twin Lakes Elementary School.

Many of those residents staged a noisy, high profile protest along Main Avenue outside Cupid’s Love Boutique on Dec. 1, successfully delaying what the shop’s owners had publicized as their grand opening. Responding to that protest, the shop owners said they would remove the offensive items from their inventory. Several residents noted that the merchandise they are concerned about is still available at the store.

Carl Simpson, Sacramento County’s principal code enforcement officer, said the store does not qualify as an adult business because the floor space devoted to those items is being kept at 25 percent or less. The store also provides lingerie, shoes, lotions and other items that are not considered adult merchandise, Simpson said.MLS

Residents remained adamant that they consider any sales of adult merchandise inappropriate at that location. They want the shop closed because of the clientele it might attract.

Simpson urged the residents to stick together, noting that continuing community presence and pressure – like the Dec. 1 public protest – might do more to discourage the business than any remedy the county might offer.

Cupid’s did not send a representative to the meeting Wednesday night but on Thursday afternoon co-owner Philip Angeles talked about the situation in a telephone interview. He said there had been no promise to remove any merchandise and all the items of concern to residents are still kept in a separate room.

Managers check the identification cards of all customers coming into the store and deny entrance to anyone under 18, Angeles said. Nearby liquor stores and convenience markets sell similar adult merchandise and anyone of any age can enter those stores, he said.