Click here for the county's proposed ordinance.
PDF of ordinance. The Floyd County Commission unveiled Tuesday a proposed adult entertainment ordinance that would apply retroactively to Entice Movies & Novelties.
The county’s sole such venue opened in Shannon early last week, despite strong objections from residents who mobilized pickets at the Ga. 53 site Saturday.
Assistant County Attorney Andy Garner said adult bookstores are constitutionally protected as a matter of free speech, so the county cannot ban them. However, commissioners have a responsibility to protect the community from harmful secondary effects such as increased crime and devalued property, he said.
“That’s what this does,” Garner said. “It can be applied to a business already open because Georgia allows an amortization period — a period in which an existing business can recoup its investment.”
Entice investors would get two years to recover their costs if they cannot comply with the new ordinance, he said, although some provisions — such as a ban on private rooms — would apply within 90 days of adoption.
Charles Craton, owner of the property occupied by Entice, said he does not believe the retroactive provision will hold up to a court challenge, but he supports a county ordinance.
“I actually encouraged (Commission Chairman) John Mayes to enact an ordinance,” Craton said. “I heard through the grapevine that a chain has been looking at Rome since all this publicity. If (the county) doesn’t do something, it could get out of hand.”
Craton said Entice is a couples-friendly, upscale store without the seedy elements associated with some adult entertainment businesses.
The adult-themed store was built to comply with Rome’s city ordinance, he said, although there are no restrictions in the unincorporated area.
“I was the first one to recognize the open door, but it doesn’t have to be a continual open door,” he said. “I live here. I have children. I don’t want it to become some kind of porn mecca for the region.”
The county’s proposed ordinance differs from the city’s in a number of areas, including a provision barring sexually oriented businesses from operating within 2,000 feet of a church or school.
Entice is 1,680 feet from a church, according to Assistant County Manager Sammy Rich.
County Attorney Tommy Manning said the ordinance was drafted by Scott Bergthold, a Chattanooga, Tenn., attorney who specializes in writing and defending adult entertainment laws for governments around the country.
“My office would have had a significant learning curve,” Manning said, noting that adult entertainment ordinances typically spark complicated court fights.
Commissioners held a first reading of the ordinance Tuesday and plan to adopt it at their May 23 meeting after a public hearing.
Manning said Bergthold would attend the session to discuss the legislative findings the law is based on and to enter them into the legal record.
Click here for the First Ammendment Center's Adult Entertainment and the Secondary Effects Doctrine.
