ACTIVISTS PLEDGE TO COMBAT PORN; PLANS INCLUDE PHOTOGRAPHING PATRONS IN ZONE.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer

Within a day of the City Council approving a new adults-only business zone in the west end of town, opponents vowed to picket and photograph patrons of the ``porn tract,'' while supporters maintained that rules are the best way to control X-rated businesses.

``We got the choice of having maybe a go-go dancer in the west area, by the sewer plant, or nude people in Mountain Gate Plaza,'' Mayor Greg Stratton said, referring to a central shopping area. ``I think the council wisely said, we got to have a law.''

However, some of the more than 50 residents who spoke at Monday night's council meeting promised to continue battling businesses they say have never been welcome in Simi Valley.

``There's other ways to fight this - picketing, taking pictures,'' said the Rev. Ken Craft, pastor at Sonrise Christian Fellowship. ``There's other ways people in the community can get involved.''

The council's approval is an attempt to end a years-long debate over zoning X-rated businesses - a battle that has landed the city in court.

A case between the city and businessman Phil Young, who has been unable to open two proposed strip clubs over the past five years, is pending before a federal appeals court. Young's attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, has said his client will continue attempts to open a club in Simi Valley.

On Monday, the council approved a sweeping pair of ordinances that relegate businesses to an industrial part of the city and regulate operators and dancers with strict new rules.

The zone, which would be home to everything from adult movie theaters to dance clubs to bookstores, is located south of the Ronald Reagan Freeway and west of the intersection of Easy Street and Los Angeles Avenue, nearly to city limits.

Nudity is prohibited at all clubs and performers are required to register with the Police Department and pay $100 for identification cards that are to be accessible during work hours.

The rules are among the most strict the city believed it could put in place without outright banning the businesses from coming into the city, which courts have ruled is unconstitutional.

``We're talking about people that are better dressed than any person on the beach,'' Stratton said. ``I don't think we'll see too many businesses interested in that.''

However, the new rules are an unacceptable compromise in the eyes of local activists, many of whom want nothing short of a complete prohibition on X-rated businesses in Simi Valley.

``The only one (ordinance) that's right for this community is one that says no SOBs (sexually oriented businesses) in Simi Valley,'' said Steve Frank, a local Republican activist and president of Simi Citizens R Against Pornography, who said the city should have refused such businesses as a challenge to existing rules. ``I'm embarrassed for these folks.''

Frank is among those discussing plans for a recall drive against the council members who voted unanimously for the ordinances. He is also discussing plans to circulate a petition for a local ballot measure to overturn the council's decision.

Craft, the Sonrise pastor, said he was interested in more direct measures, such as lobbying landlords not to rent to adult business owners and dissuading patrons from frequenting the establishments.

Stratton said he welcomed citizens' activism, but urged residents to understand that existing laws allow these businesses to operate.

``If cities could ban this, they would,'' said City Attorney David Hirsch. ``We're trying to get in place as strict an ordinance we can, according to what the courts say we can do.''