We merely note for the time being that based upon our personal experience undesirable secondary effects do not result from the mere presence of adult establishments. Indeed, in the West Village of New York City, sexuality in all its variety is openly celebrated, but the West Village also happens to be one of the most desirable neighborhoods in New York City to live and raise a family - and businesses, including flower shops, thrive there, too.
The Myth Of Secondary Effects
by Mark Kernes, Senior Editor, AVN
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41 (1986), municipalities across America have been given the power to limit the number of adult businesses in a community, as well as to severely regulate their location, hours of operation, floor space devoted to adult materials and several other ordinary business decisions, based on the "secondary effects" which adult businesses are alleged to have on the community around them.
Among the "secondary effects" which adult businesses - bookstores, video stores, cabarets and even Internet servers - are reputed to have are a decrease in property values, an increase in crime and, in some cases, an adverse effect on community health in and around the businesses' locations.
Moreover, the Renton decision allows a municipality to use not only whatever experience it may have with its own adult businesses, but also - or exclusively - studies done of the experiences other communities claim to have had with their adult businesses.
(Full Text of Article at the Free Speech Coalition's website)
12 comments:
To keep your readers fully informed, you should note that the "AVN" from which this article is reprinted is "Adult Video News", the trade journal of the porn industry, and the "Free Speech Coalition" is also an industry-funded group.
We wanted to learn about "secondary effects" first-hand, so NoPornNorthampton researched and visited Kittery, Maine to speak with officials there about their experience this year with Capital Video and porn viewing booths. Here are some of our findings:
What Kittery Found at the Porn Shop
http://nopornnorthampton.org/2006/07/02/what-kittery-found-at-the-porn-shop.aspx
This entry was posted on 7/2/2006 7:06 AM.
From the minutes of a meeting of the Kittery Town Council, February 27, 2006:
a. (020206-1) THE KITTERY TOWN COUNCIL MOVES TO HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING ON AND HEREBY ORDAINS CHAPTER 5.40, AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING LICENSES FOR VIEWING BOOTHS OF ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ESTABLISHMENTS. ...Police Chief Strong came forward and said everyone was aware that this establishment had been a bone of contention for a long time. Although they had other regulations toward that establishment, it had come to his attention that there were either illegal activities going on or activities that were detrimental to the health and welfare of patrons and the general public. They started to pick up intelligence and interviewed a former employee, who had been in a managerial role for the company. During that interview, they were informed about certain activities and that basically it was a meeting place for homosexual males to meet people and engage in sex inside the booths and bathrooms, which the informant indicated he had personally witnessed. The Department continued to monitor the establishment and to research websites. The Chief made a sketch on the board for Council to see the establishment’s basic layout; the doors to “peek” booths were lockable from the inside.
Chief Strong said Fernald Road residents had complained about finding offensive trash on the road and the Department did their own surveillance, finding such items as empty pill bottles, lubricants, leather straps, movies, and used condoms within 100 yards of the rear of the establishment on Fernald Road. The Chief said they made the decision to send people in under cover and on two occasions, he sent two plain clothes detectives into Amazing.Net, arming them with special glasses and a portable ultraviolet light, which when shined on an area would illuminate body fluids. On January 30, two detectives went inside dressed in plain clothes and equipped with the ultraviolet light, as well as collection material. They entered booths, closed the doors, turned on the ultraviolet light and observed what appeared to be tremendous amounts of body fluids on all three walls and on the floor. The next night, the detectives followed the same procedure. Samples were sent to the Main Street Lab and on February 13, 2006, he received the results confirming that all swabbings taken in the four booths contained semen. The Chief said their informant told them that on numerous occasions he had tried to clean but had not been given any information on how to wash the areas properly. Police Chief Strong said he believed the collection of material they made, along with the lab results, showed beyond a reasonable doubt that there were body fluids being exchanged or deposited that other people were exposed to and asked Council if they had any questions.
NoPornNorthampton then further researched porn viewing booths and the activities that take place there...
What They're Saying about Capital Video's Kittery Store at Squirt.org (explicit)
This entry was posted on 7/13/2006 8:46 AM.
Capital Video's Amazing.net porn shop in Kittery, Maine has been a hot topic of conversion on squirt.org, "your neighborhood cruising guide". Squirt's profile of the site gives directions and "hours" of 10am - 1am. Who goes there? "Married guys looking for head and those who provide it." Here are some (graphic) comments about the site from squirt members:
murphymap, 2/7/05: hey guys, any of you hot men stopping by tonight 2-7-05. Last time I was there, 3 of us jacked off, while 3 more hairy dudes...watching next door. Was all shot loads all over the glasss!!
ramitdeeper, 2/19/05: Who ever was in the next to last booth today about 11:30 and came into my booth (very last on left) and fed me...huge cock, I wish I had time to ask about a repeat, that was the largest cock I have ever done and the way you fucked my throat was unbelievable... Lets do it again
wayne53nh, 3/5/05: Are the GH [glory holes] still covered. It seems that this has affected business as the last few times I've been there ...very few... "clients"
fnl, 3/8/05: Friday night was way HOT as two couples came in to the booths when I was there. They were HOT! HOT! HOT!
BondMe56, 3/11/05: Going there either today, tonight, or tomorrow. Wife is away, so no time constraints!!! Would love to hook-up with...couple, if possible.
ramitdeeper, 3/13/05: 9AM Monday 14th, last booth on left as you go in will get you a nice, wet, bj if clean nice cock...
rickinheat, 4/30/05: HEY GUYS GOING TO BE THERE WEDNESDAY MAY 4TH AROUND 11:00 WOULD LOVE TO HOOK UP IN A...BOOTH AND GET AS MUCH COCK AND CUM AS I CAN GET!!!!!
achillessucker, 5/12/05: have the gh's opened back up yet?? wanna come up and get some cock....but don't want to waste a load on glass...of course will put on a show if there are no gh's.... but my mouth and tongue are jonzin... for some anonymus cock
Slurp132, 6/16/05: Hey Guys the answer to your question is NO, the friggin GH's are boarded up like big friggin chastity belts....and...to get anything going is rough everyone is either very picky or gunshy. Everyone loves to show off through the glass...but damn it, I'm a carnivore and I NEED MY MEAT ...fuckers...quite making me sit there drooling and come and p... that thing in my lips....
slohnd, 7/28/06: got the best head of my life there. once a guy in an emt uniform came in my booth and sucked me dry. felt like...warm,wet pussy. second guy tongued and fingered my ass till i was ready then took my load in his mouth. wow.
jizzy_1, 9/29/05: no glory holes still...I...wont be back...EVER!
Groundinside, 11/11/05: i'm interested in meeting up here for action - any attractive hot hung tops or vers/tops lookin to play?
SmilyMike, 11/22/05: OH MY GOD !!! I sucked off 3 hot guys in less than an hour. They all were under 25 and looked like they belonged...the cover of GQ Magazine. I'm definatly going back to this place.
Donbro, 12/4/05: ...sucked off a lunch time married guy w/a nice cock who pumped his load off in my mouth for me..wish it wasn't so...away!
cum2daddy, 1/2/06: Well, it may not be completely dead but seems to breathing its' last breath. Not exactly user friendly. Many other...in Maine have G-holes, why not here? What do they think most of their customers are there for? And, Yes I am speaking for myself. slurp slurp
JohnD2005, 1/7/06: Now for the bad news. Due to the continous finding of used condoms, and adult toys around the neighborhood...Kittery Town Council is reviewing an ordinance to remove the doors and allow them to crack down on activities.... So...another place to meet goes down the drain.
While Capital Video's current plan for Northampton has no porn viewing booths, there's little in our current ordinances to regulate them. Regulation is indeed needed and justified.
NPN:
The viewing booths have been taken out of the plan for the store. This is another non-issue. In my opinion, the people of Northampton should be more concerned with the potential for heroin abuse in the stalls than sexual activity between consenting adults.
Further, I suggest that your quotes inspire moral indignation and homophobia rather than reasonable dialogue about the needs of the city. It seems rather representative of your obsession with sexual moralizing, and lays bare the real agenda of your website. I have begun counting the number of articles regarding "normal" sexual behavior as opposed to the articles which discuss zoning laws and secondary effects.
Rather than posting these lurid messages, why not provide us with a simple, non-emotional list of what you feel are the unacceptable behaviors which will go on in and because of the proposed Capital Video location. I cannot tell you how eager I am to see which activities you feel should be verboten.
jendi:
The magazine is commonly referred to as AVN. I fail to see what is controversial about the adult entertainment industry forming a group to protect themselves from the very real threat of legal action provoked by a climate of intolerance and Puritanism.
NP
The adult industry is welcome to add its voice to the debate, you should be open about disclosing the financial bias of the source you cite, so that your readers can make an informed judgment about its credibility. BTW, what do you mean by a climate of intolerance and Puritanism? Examples? Porn and promiscuity have become more mainstream in this country than we've seen in Western history since the Roman empire.
Jendi,
When will NoPorn be open about disclosing the bias of the sources you cite? Why don't you reveal, for instance, what Victor Cline's agenda is?
jendi:
Simply putting the phrase "AVN" into Google would have yielded that information (as well as a sponsored link to NPN) for those who were unaware. I will certainly take pains to be more transparent in the future. NPN- who site well-known right-wing organizations on their website (The Independent Women's Forum, for one) won't disclose their donor list. If you feel like harassing someone about "disclosure" I will refer you to their website. Mr. Brooks has had his name and address published in the paper. I am a well-known figure in the local arts community. Mr. Banas has had his check posted on our website. Who is behind NPN?
I find your claim about the Roman Empire a little strange. What is your source for your statement? What exactly does your statement mean? Finally, how is the Roman Empire relevant? Your language seems extremely vague to me. You seek specifics from me. I ask the same of you. I would also like to call attention to the fact that your movement now opposes porn and promiscuity.
Anyone interested in a discussion of intolerance and Puritanism is referred to the the National Coalition Against Censorship's Timeline of Censorship in America and an article from the Christian Science Monitor regarding the anti-porn movement's drive to prosecute hotels which show pornography on television under obscenity laws. This article from Focus on the Family's website quotes Attorney General Gonzales as saying "I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively." By "crimes" he means consensual behavior between adults.
I find NPN's moralistic campaign against Capital Video to be in extremely poor taste at a time when the current administration is aggressively prosecuting obscenity laws and on the move against the freedoms of sexual minorities and of artists. I find the actions against Capital Video to be far too similar to the smear campaign the Christian right waged against Dr. Kinsey around the release of the biopic Kinsey for my own comfort. Were most of the discussion NPN about bettering our community through zoning laws I would be far less concerned. Rather, their website is almost exclusively devoted to lurid accounts of the most extreme excesses of the industry. I might suggest that the marginal nature of the industry- resulting, at least in part, from being hounded by Puritans into semi-legality- has something to do with these excesses as with alcohol and gambling in the early-20th century.
I am also concerned about the community that I live in. I am concerned that Capital Video might not be the best neighbors. However, what concerns me far more is extremist ideology which uses smoke and mirrors to demonize the private sexual behavior of consenting adults. Proponents of overturned Texas anti-sodomy laws believed homosexual sex to be a "public issue" as well- how is NPN significantly different in its attitude toward personal behavior?
NP
Anonymous, you asked "Why don't you reveal, for instance, what Victor Cline's agenda is?" I'm not aware that he has an agenda, but if you know something about his background, we'd be happy to have that info and post it if it seems relevant. You can also post your findings on our blog in the comments under the relevant entry.
Peter, we cite or link to a lot of people from all points on the political spectrum to support various points we make. It doesn't mean we endorse all of their views on every subject. It would be bizarre if we did, since we cite right-wing moralists and radical feminists with equal frequency (probably more of the latter, these days). It troubles me that your main rhetorical tactic is to smear us by association with other, totally unrelated "morals" campaigns that we don't support, such as persecution of gays and lesbians.
As we've pointed out many times, legal regulation is only a small part of our campaign to persuade people that porn is harmful. We have never called for obscenity prosecutions, only modest zoning and health regulations. As for the rest, we are merely trying to convince potential porn consumers that porn promotes an unhealthy, dehumanizing, and unsatisfying vision of sexuality. Why is it "free expression" when artists and writers advocate promiscuity or moral relativism about sex, but "repression of artistic freedom" when we use our talents in service of the opposite viewpoint?
More generally, if you are concerned about attacks on artistic freedom or gay rights, why don't you spend your energy helping people who are actually being persecuted in these ways, instead of an issue (the porn shop on King Street) that is only tangentially related to your real concerns?
If legal regulation is just a small part of your campaign, would you be willing to drop it and focus on convincing porn users that your arguments are valid?
I didn't think so.
If you're concerned about women and children, why not do something about Islamic or Christian fundamentalism, reproductive freedom, access to child care or any number of real issues?
No one is disputing your right to say what you please. What I personally dislike is extremist rhetoric, neo-Victorian attitudes about female sexuality, and citing of extremely homophobic sources.
The public has a right to know about the ideology which drives the "research" that you cite. As much as you might want to isolate yourself from Dr. Reisman's appalling views on homosexuality, I don't believe that you can, with any degree of intellectual honesty, claim that her writings against pornography are somehow unrelated to her views on homosexuality. Further, my freedom of expression includes the right to criticize your views, including shedding light on the agenda behind your "evidence."
If you were content to say that pornography promotes a "an unhealthy, dehumanizing, and unsatisfying vision of sexuality" for you that would be fine. It seems, however, that you have set yourself up to judge the private, consensual sexual behavior of the community. I eagerly anticipate your list of what "unhealthy, dehumanizing and unsatisfying" sexual practices actually are. Doesn't the community have a right to know what the space-time referents to these metaphysical abstractions are?
Additionally- NP is Nicholas Pell, author of a recent letter to the Hampshire Daily Gazette, and specified articles on this blog. AlwaysControversial is Peter Brooks. Anonymous, unsigned entries are just that- anonymous. I hope that this will clear up any confusion you may have about authorship.
NP
"Additionally- NP is Nicholas Pell, author of a recent letter to the Hampshire Daily Gazette, and specified articles on this blog. AlwaysControversial is Peter Brooks. Anonymous, unsigned entries are just that- anonymous. I hope that this will clear up any confusion you may have about authorship."
Thanks for the clarification. Sorry about the mixup.
We have repeatedly distanced ourselves from anti-gay attitudes on our blog. There were several anti-porn websites we did not link to because of their attitudes toward gays. Similarly, we link to some radical feminist sites and authors without endorsing their views on marriage, which tend to be more negative than ours. I'm not seeing how Dr. Reisman's views on homosexuality affect the credibility of the study we cited, which focused on heterosexual porn mags like Playboy and Hustler.
I also think that having a political bias (probably inevitable) is different from having a financial stake in the issue, as Adult Video News does. The "Free Speech Coalition" website is also not very upfront about their connection to the adult industry, whereas Reisman is pretty open about her views on gays, whatever you may think of it.
On the other issues you raise, we will just have to agree to disagree.
At Talk Back Northampton, we've seen how porn defenders tend to dismiss the notion of secondary effects, that adult uses can reduce property values, create economic dead zones, heighten crime and change a neighborhood's character. The fact is, however, that secondary effects have been extensively studied and documented. Here we make available a major Adult Entertainment Study published by New York City's Department of City Planning (DCP) in 1994. These Adobe PDF files are so large (about 300 pages in all) that we present the study in four parts at
http://nopornnorthampton.org/2006/10/02/new-york-city-documents-secondary-effects-of-adult-uses.aspx
New York City's study reviews the impacts of adult uses in other locales, discusses the adult entertainment industry, reviews adult zoning in New York City, and describes the impacts of adult uses there.
Sample finding (p. 50): "It is significant that more than 80 percent of the [real estate] brokers responding (11 of 13) reported that an adult entertainment establishment tends to decrease the market value of property that lies within 500 feet of it. When the distance is increased from between 500 to 1,000 feet of an adult use, a majority of brokers (7 of 13) indicated that the same phenomenon would occur."
Sample findings (p. 56-65): "DCP found secondary impacts, similar to those found in studies done by other localities. For example, the Town of Islip, New York, found that adult uses create 'dead zones' in commercial areas which shoppers avoid. Los Angeles, California found a greater proportion of certain crimes in areas of concentration of adult uses compared to the city as a whole, and other impacts traced to negative public perceptions about adult uses, such as the need to provide private security guards in parking lots and closing area businesses early...
"Major crimes occurred in study areas [in Indianapolis] that contained at least one adult entertainment establishment at a rate that was 23% higher than six control areas (similar areas without adult entertainments), and 46 percent higher than the Indianapolis Police District.
"The City of Whittier, California, found higher turnover rates in commercial and residential areas adjacent to adult uses. The study compared 38 types of criminal activity over two time periods, showing a total increase of 102 percent for the study area containing adult businesses, while the city as a whole only had an eight percent increase.
"A study by the City of Austin, Texas, compared areas with adult businesses to other areas containing similar land uses but no adult businesses, revealing a sex crimes rate between two and five times greater in the areas with adult businesses...
"Phoenix, Arizona studied the relationship between arrests for sex crimes and the locations of adult businesses, finding an overall increase of six times the sex crime rate in the study areas with adult uses over the control areas without such uses...
"Of 100 businesses surveyed [in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea], 61 percent felt that the triple-X video stores had a negative impact on their businesses and 88 percent thought the potential for doing business in Chelsea has been negatively affected by the adult stores...
"Those citing negative impacts from adult establishments [at a 1993 public hearing in Manhattan] noted crime most frequently, and quality of life impacts such as littering, noise, late night operations, offensive signage, and general perceptions about neighborhoods or certain streets...
"In surveys of community organizations, more than 80 percent responded that adult entertainment establishments negatively impact the community in some way...
"The experience of urban planners and real estate appraisers indicates that negative perceptions associated with an area can lead to disinvestment in residential neighborhoods and a tendency to shun shopping streets where unsavory activities are occurring, leading to economic decline...
"The strongest negative reactions to adult entertainment uses comes from residents living near them...
"Based on these findings, DCP believes it is appropriate to regulate adult entertainment establishments differently from other commercial establishments... [T]he following regulatory techniques, which have been used in other jurisdictions, merit consideration in developing adult use regulations: restrictions on the location of adult uses in proximity to residential areas, to houses of worship, to schools and to each other."
Accodring to this article,
Lawlor, James. "Adult business rules subject to closer scrutiny." Planning 72.4 (April 2006): 49(1),
towns can't just enact laws regulating adult businesses on the belief that such businesses will have negative secondary effects on the city. Here's what one court said: "Gone are the days when a municipality may enact an ordinance ostensibly regulating secondary effects on the basis of evidence consisting of little more than self-serving assertions of municipality officials."
Has NoPorn provided proof--not just opinion, but solid proof--that the proposed store will spell doom for Northampton? If they haven't (and I don't think they have) then the laws they're proposing could open up the City to an expensive lawsuit that it would lose. Will NoPorn be willing to donate some of its money to pay for legal costs?
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