Baltimore – from www.baltimoresun.com – The Baltimore County Council unanimously enacted tougher zoning on businesses that stock adult entertainment products at its legislative session Tuesday.

The new law will require those businesses to scale back total adult inventory from 20 to 15 percent or relocate to a less visible location. The same standard applies to the establishment’s gross retail sales. The ban also prevents adult video stores, massage parlors and tattoo and body-piercing shops and any others that sell or display sexual paraphernalia and material from operating within 1,000 feet of many establishments — including churches, libraries, day care centers, homes or other family facilities. Current law sets the distance at 500 feet.

Businesses would be barred from external displays of adult material for rental or sale. Owners would also have to separate viewing booths with solid partitions to prevent any sharing of materials.