Newport News- Plans for an adult video store in downtown Newport are being met with opposition, and the Newport City Council on Monday heard from several residents who expressed concerns over the negative image and potential harm such a business could bring to the community.
Last week, the city's planning department received an application from a Salem man who plans to open a business called Spice Adult Video at 611 SW Coast Highway, the former site of Gerber Tire Factory.
Greg Tyree of Salbend, Inc. filed an application for a change of occupancy to allow him to open that business. Tyree has operated a similar business in Salem for the past several years, offering adult videos, novelties and magazines 24 hours a day.
According to records at the Lincoln County Assessor's Office, Tyree purchased the Newport property for $410,000 in early May of this year through a corporation known as Orco Investments. That property had been owned by James Gerber since March of 1990.
At Monday's meeting, city council members heard from Newport resident Doug Smith, who presented a petition signed by 185 people that he said "strongly protest" plans for this business.
"A 24-hour adult video store would be a blight on our town," said Smith. "Hard core pornography exploits women, is addictive to men, and promotes sexual violence." He said any location in Newport would be undesirable for such a business, but its proposed location fronting U.S. Highway 101 in the heart of the city "is particularly terrible," said Smith and flies in the face of Newport's image as a family-friendly community.
Smith said he had heard an adult video store is a permitted use and the city is obligated to allow it to go in there, but he suggested there are options the city can consider to at least mitigate the harm, if not ban it entirely.
The council also heard from Newport resident Lee Pate, who said, "We, as a community, need to say what is obscene and what is not. We, as a community, need to say this is offensive ... (and) we don't want it in our community." Like Smith, Pate believes there are some options available, including things such as the location of this type of business and the hours of operation.
Ken Shelton recently purchased the former YMCA building a few blocks away from the site of the proposed adult video store. He said he has spent a considerable sum of money to renovate both the interior and exterior of that building, and there is an effort underway in this part of the city "by people trying to clean it up." Shelton said he finds the idea of this video store "very offensive," and "it plants a seed that is not wanted by many."
Newport resident Jeff Johnston said pornography is a contributing factor in the cases of abused women and children and in the destruction of families. "We know that this literature feeds actions that we don't want to happen," he said. "Their best customers will be our worst enemies, and we don't need that."
Jordan Montgomery, a 2005 Newport High School graduate, addressed the issue of potential harm to young people. Like alcohol and tobacco, pornography is an addiction, he said, and the presence of this type of store in Newport not only detracts from the natural beauty of the coastal community, it increases the chance for long-term harm to the area's youth.
After hearing the concerns raised at Monday's meeting, Mayor Bill Bain said the council had anticipated opposition to the proposed business and had asked Newport Community Development Director James Bassingthwaite and Newport City Attorney Chris Minor for information on this issue.
Bassingthwaite said the application the city received from Tyree does not require any type of public hearing prior to approval. Book stores and video stores are permitted uses in that C-1 "retail and service commercial" zone, he said.
Minor addressed the matter from a legal standpoint, saying that although city officials certainly respect the opponents' feelings on the subject, sometimes the city council is limited in what it can do.
"The fact is, we live in a structure of laws," Minor said. "We may not always agree with those laws, but they're out there." He said the Oregon Supreme Court has taken a very liberal stand on freedom of speech issues, and it recently struck down an ordinance that had been passed in the City of Nyssa, which required nude dancers to remain at least four feet from the audience. The court found this restriction violated the dancers' free expression guarantees in the state constitution, said Minor.
Minor further stated the city's business license ordinance "is not a system where we decide who's good, who's bad ... something where we can pass judgement. It's essentially a tax."
In light of the city's inability to restrict this type of business, Minor said, "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but one thing that's been effective is picketing outside ... taking pictures of customers." If people are discouraged from patronizing an establishment, it makes it difficult to stay in business. "If it doesn't make money, it's not going to continue," he said.
An audience member asked about the legality of these forms of protest, to which Newport Police Chief Mark Miranda said, "As long as they're on public property, like a sidewalk, it's fine."
Newport City Councilor Larry Henson added that just as the business owner has the right to operate an adult video store, "you also have the right to use your freedom of speech."
Smith asked the city council about the possibility of creating a specific zone for this type of business, in an effort to regulate where it can or cannot be located.
Minor said, "It's difficult to make that kind of thing pass constitutional muster." And even if it could be approved, he said, "any change in zoning is a long process. It's not something that could be done rapidly enough to deal with this particular situation."
Bain told those in attendance at Monday's meeting that "we appreciate your input, (and) I think we all share your concerns."
