X-rated store raises eyebrows in Springfield.Byline: Matt Cooper Matt Cooper may refer to:
SPRINGFIELD - Dennis Kay may feel a bit like the new guy on the block, the one who makes some people think, "there goes the neighborhood." Such is life when your product is pornography pornography Depiction of erotic behaviour intended to cause sexual excitement. The word originally signified any work of art or literature depicting the life of prostitutes. . "Sex is a reactionary thing," said Kay, president of B&B Distributors, which plans to open its second local adult video and bookstore July 1 on Olympic Street, near Wal-Mart. "Everybody has a strong reaction when you mention sex. It's not like talking about the weather." Kay is not the first to open a sex-based business in Springfield, but his choice of a spot a little more than a block away from a gathering place for children - Kidsports, a youth sports organization - sparked a handful of angry calls and e-mails to City Hall, and a complaint from Mayor Sid Leiken. "I'm not opposed to a business wanting to locate in our city," Leiken said. "But a business like this that sells adult video, adult paraphernalia PARAPHERNALIA. The name given to all such things as a woman has a right to retain as her own property, after her husband's death; they consist generally of her clothing, jewels, and ornaments suitable to her condition, which she used personally during his life. , wanting to locate across the street from an organization that deals with children, that's where I really have some concerns." Ron Gibbs, Kidsports executive director, added: "To the extent that that type of business could bring people who might do something harmful to children, that's our concern." Kay rejects the concerns. Minors won't be allowed in his store, he said, and the material won't be visible from the outside. A nearly 6-foot-tall privacy fence will further obscure views and, in general, the business will maintain a profile in keeping with the community. B&B's store would be the third such business in the city. Adult bookstores are unfairly tagged as seedy, Kay said, because they're often allowed only in the seedy parts of town. He suggested, in fact, that the current B&B - about 10 years old on West Sixth Avenue at Madison - is an asset because he's chased off prostitutes and drug users while bringing upstanding customers to the area. Although nothing in the Eugene store is visible from the outside, it is festively decorated dec·o·rate tr.v. dec·o·rat·ed, dec·o·rat·ing, dec·o·rates 1. To furnish, provide, or adorn with something ornamental; embellish. 2. with "Adult Videos" in large letters and a string of blinking See dry eyes. lights that were running in the middle of a weekday afternoon. Inside, the store is well-lit, clean and filled with hundreds of videos and related items. Eugene police have no criminal concerns about B&B, spokeswoman Pam Olshanski said. In the past six months, just two incidents were tied directly to the store: A vehicle was broken into, and a car was stolen from the premises and later recovered. The president of the local neighborhood association A neighborhood association is a group of residents, sometimes organized as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, who take on problems or organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary or mandatory dues. reported no problems either, but Brian McDaniel, sales supervisor of Premier Auto Glass, has nothing good to say about his next-door neighbor. McDaniel said he is frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: by B&B customers "constantly" parking on his lot, and he characterized them as "mostly trashy people." "We don't approve of the type of business," he added. Nor do many cities across Oregon, but those that try to block sex-based businesses find themselves up against a state constitution that is unusually lenient le·ni·ent adj. Inclined not to be harsh or strict; merciful, generous, or indulgent: lenient parents; lenient rules. on the subject, said Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Oregon Cities There are two places named Oregon City in the United States:
The provision in the state constitution that deals with adult-oriented businesses speaks of "free expression," a broader definition than that of "freedom of speech" in the U.S. Constitution, Strobeck said. Twice in the past 10 years or so, voters defeated Legislature-approved amendments that would have ultimately given cities more latitude latitude, angular distance of any point on the surface of the earth north or south of the equator. The equator is latitude 0°, and the North Pole and South Pole are latitudes 90°N and 90°S, respectively. to regulate such businesses, Strobeck said. "Oregonians, in general, have a very independent streak and want to be left alone," he said. Regulation, then, is largely in the hands of the property owners themselves. Through conditions, covenants and restrictions, property owners regulate the types of businesses that are acceptable once they sell a piece of land. Richard Boyles Richard Boyle may be:
"We wanted to have some control over (who) would be our future neighbors and those kinds of uses that are objectionable to many businesses, as they are to many people," Boyles said. "Generally a property owner is going to be the only one who can regulate the use of private property." On that subject, Kay referred all questions to Eugene businessman and landlord Jack Louie, from whom Kay is leasing the property. Louie declined twice this week to talk to a reporter. |
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