Following a brief public hearing at the Edgecomb Town Office April 26, the Board of Selectmen approved a proposed adult entertainment ordinance for the town warrant which voters will consider at their annual town meeting May 19.
Selectman Jessica Chubbuck opened the meeting, saying the purpose of the ordinance is to make sure the town is protected. Currently there are no restrictions on adult entertainment establishments in Edgecomb.
“We do have to allow [adult entertainment establishments] but we can say where they can be in the town,” she said.
Chubbuck said she took the State’s ordinance as a model and then revised it to suit Edgecomb’s needs. She reduced the distance an adult entertainment business would have to be from a church or synagogue, a primary or secondary school, daycare, public park, or another adult entertainment establishment within the commercial district from 2500 to 1500 feet.
Without that change, she said, “There would be no place in Edgecomb [they could have one].”
Town Attorney John Cunningham agreed, saying, “The Supreme Court cases are fairly clear on adult entertainment. They allow the community to decide where they will allow it. There is a fair amount of leeway so there are good reasons for what you are doing. [Your ordinance] is restrictive. We want to use the least restrictive manner to get our desired result.”
According to the proposed ordinance language, the purpose of the ordinance is to regulate adult entertainment establishments and “related activities to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens.”
The ordinance cites court cases and lists prostitution, crime, sexual assault, and drug dealing as potential “adverse secondary effects of adult uses on the community.”
After Edgecomb planning board member Jarryl Larson suggested the proposed language in one section should read “male and female breasts” or just “breasts” instead of “female breasts” as drafted, because she thought it was unfair that women were being singled out, Cunningham said the ordinance was not in the same category as an equal rights issue.
“If you put ‘male or female’ in the ordinance you will need to prove that the average person in Edgecomb thinks all bare breasts are objectionable,” he said. “That could open the town up to legal challenges later on. You have to decide for the purposes of adult entertainment, whether you are going to rule out all breasts, or just female or just male. Most communities find the female breast objectionable. I am suggesting that [if you change the language to read “male and female”] you will have difficulty backing this up.” The language was left to read “female breasts”.
When Edgecomb citizen Marylee Harris expressed concern that there may be other ordinances Edgecomb did not have that they might need, Cunningham suggested that Edgecomb townspeople look at other communities’ websites and see if there are other ordinances they feel would be good to have on the books.
Residents will be able to get a copy of the ordinance at the town office. It will be posted on the town website (www.EdgecombME.com) as well, selectmen said.
