Alachua's sex shop regulations updated

ALACHUA – The Alachua City Commission unanimously voted to tighten the regulations on sexually oriented businesses and merchandise at its Monday, Nov. 4 meeting.

The changes to the land-development regulations closed some loopholes which allowed certain businesses to sell sexual material.

Under the old regulations, businesses with more than 30 percent of their floor area devoted to sexually explicit media were classified as “sexually oriented media stores.” However, vertical displays on walls did not count toward the percentage.

“People always find a way to skirt the law,” said Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper.

The new regulation amends the definition, counting wall displays toward the 30 percent rule.

Stores with more than 10 percent of their stock consisting of sexually explicit media or sex toys, or stores that have more than 10 percent of their gross space selling such material count as sex shops under the new definition.

It’s a business’ First Amendment right to sell sexual material, said Mayor Gib Coerper, but they can still be regulated and zoned into certain areas. For instance, sex shops in Alachua cannot be within 2,500 feet from a school.

The decision to change the definitions for sexually oriented businesses came after a series of First Amendment court cases, Mayor Coerper said. The interpretation of the law is always changing, making it a never-ending issue, he added.

“We’ll probably have to revisit the issue in another five years,” he said.

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