MIAMI — City commissioners and some residents in Fort Lauderdale are upset because Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt plans to open an adult-oriented store in their revitalized neighborhood.
Fort Lauderdale Vice-Mayor Dean Trantalis said Thursday that Flynt’s reputation as a porn magnate precedes him and a store that could sell sexually explicit material such as toys, DVDs and magazines will “detract from the quality of life” of Victoria Park’s residents.
“We’re trying to maintain a quality of life here that I feel people here deserve and not come home every day and, on their way home, pass by sexually explicit materials that may be offensive, especially with children,” Trantalis said, noting that the city has received a building permit for Flynt’s store.
“We do not want that to gain a foothold in an area that’s tried to eliminate crime, prostitution and an unsavory element” from its streets, Trantalis said.
Paul Cambria, Flynt’s lawyer in Buffalo, N.Y., said he could not confirm or deny whether Flynt’s company plans to build a store in Fort Lauderdale because he does not comment “on open and existing operations.”
But Cambria did say that Flynt’s other locations have proven to be “sophisticated, high-end stores” with no adult displays in the window and a reputable clientele.
“Usually, you have a handful of people who get all excited because they think a sleazy store is coming into their community,” Cambria said.
Flynt owns a series of successful stores that sell coffee as well as sexual materials, though it is not clear what is planned for the Fort Lauderdale location.
The publisher is most famous for his 1977 conviction for pandering obscenity for selling Hustler magazine. Flynt’s conviction was thrown out on appeal and he never was retried. The trial formed the basis of the 1996 film “The People vs. Larry Flynt.”
Trantalis and the Fort Lauderdale commission moved Wednesday to limit the publisher’s ability to open an adult video store near the neighborhood, which includes upscale town homes, a shopping center and a church.
“I feel we can maintain a peaceful coexistence as long as he significantly restricts the amount of adult-themed material he sells,” Trantalis said.