FILLMORE : Council Backs Curbs on Adult Businesses

Fillmore City Council members have tentatively adopted a strict law prohibiting adult-oriented businesses from locating in most parts of the city.

Under terms of the ordinance approved this week, adult businesses such as movie theaters and topless clubs could locate only in areas zoned for heavy industry, Mayor Linda Brewster said.

“We don’t have any real good guidelines if one of these businesses wants to come in,” Brewster said. “We’re trying to develop as stringent a policy as we can that’s legal and still not be challenged in court.”

Most of the land zoned for industrial use is located in north Fillmore, Brewster said.

City attorneys want to make small changes to the law before it comes before the City Council again on Dec. 13, the mayor said. But the proposed ordinance received unanimous council support.

Adult-oriented businesses “draw a bad element,” Brewster said. “There are secondary effects. Lots of times there’s vandalism, drunkenness, prostitution. It’ll lower your property values if you live near one.”

Brewster said city staff modeled the law after a similar ordinance adopted by Oxnard last year. She said she expects the council to approve the amended law next month. If that happens, the ordinance would go into effect in January.

Currently, there are no adult-oriented businesses in Fillmore.