PALMDALE – A new temporary city law aimed at keeping sexually oriented businesses from setting up in residential areas will come up for a 10 1/2-month extension while city officials draft permanent ordinances that cover new technologies, such as webcasting.
At its meeting Wednesday, the Palmdale City Council will vote on whether to extend a temporary ordinance approved last month on adult-oriented businesses. The current ordinance is good for 45 days, but state law allows for two extensions – the first for an additional 10 1/2 months and a second good for a year.
The temporary ordinance is intended to give the city staff time to draft a permanent proposal.
“Once we get this thing reworked, it will come back for adoption,” Mayor Jim Ledford said.
The ordinance is aimed at adult modeling studios and includes references to new technologies of the digital age.
A previous ordinance against adult modeling studios was enacted in 1997, before the development of technologies that make it easier to record and transmit adult material in a residential area, city officials said.
Such businesses risk exposing children to suggestive sights and sounds, and they can encroach on public rights-of-way and increase traffic, noise, litter, drug and criminal activity, officials said.
Language in the urgency ordinance states that it applies not only on site, but also to patrons viewing from off site, as by webcast. Officials said previous ordinance language could have been construed as applying only to on-site customers.
The urgency ordinance also deals with adult material recorded electronically or digitally, as well as transmitting the material through webcasting, cablecasting or other broadcasting.
Soon, city officials said, they also want to address a related issue: city permits for filming on private property. Some cities, including Los Angeles, require a permit for commercial filming on private property, but Palmdale has not done so.
