BATH, N.Y. — Many people in the Town of Bath were shocked when an adult bookstore came to town.

“We got complaints from people and the town board was concerned about it. So in the past two years we formed a committee to take care of the comprehensive plan,” said Bath Town Supervisor Frederick Muller.

This led to a law prohibiting any new adult shop from being within 1,200 feet of any home, school, church or park.

“To provide zones where the adult store can go and couldn’t go, keep people safer and try to protect folks from the secondary effects of adult book stores,” said Muller.

The owner of the adult store’s business won’t be affected because he was here before town board members passed the law, which has some people concerned.

“It was something that I believed in to keep it safe as a family friendly community,” said Robin Nabjadi who lives in Bath.
Adult bookstore causes stir in Bath
Almost three years ago, the Town of Bath got its first ever adult store. Since then, neighbors have been working to get rid of it. Town officials have passed a law that puts tight regulations on new adult shops in the area. As our Mariah Sparks reports, some people are upset the law did not force the current adult store out of town.

Neighbors say they’re disappointed because the mandate doesn’t get rid of the store on Worth Road.

“The whole idea is we had a pirated business come in and this was an opportunity to cast them out, legally and openly and they’ve really missed this opportunity,” resident Ed Spencer said.

However, the town supervisor defends the law, saying if the current store were to close and try to reopen, they wouldn’t have the same luck.

“They would be subject to the regulations of the adult use law. I don’t think they belong within the 1,200 foot buffer,” said Muller.

This doesn’t comfort those who have fought to get rid of it.

“I’m hoping that the people don’t take this standing down, I’m hoping that the people will rally up like they did before,” said Nabjadi.

We tried to reach the owners of the adult store in Bath, but they declined to comment.