Batavia plans to zone sex shops for industrial districts

The city of Batavia wants to keep sex-based businesses out of its retail areas, according to today’s Chicago Tribune. Since the city can’t ban sex shops under the first amendment, zoning them for industrial districts is the best way to keep them away from major thoroughfares, city officials say.

This plan, to be discussed tonight at Batavia City Hall, treats sex shops in somewhat the same way many courts treat human sex offenders, forbidding them from coming “within 500 feet of a church, school, park, family entertainment outlet or store that sells alcohol,” the Tribune reports.

When the Chicago sex shop The Pleasure Chest moved from its location at Broadway and Belmont to the more residential corner of Lincoln and Newport in June, a group of neighbors protested, saying the store was bad for property values and kids. The owner of The Pleasure Chest argued that its displays are tasteful (no booths, peep shows, etc.) and that visiting the store is forbidden for children and completely voluntary for adults. Alderman Ted Matlak agreed.

Does it make sense from the standpoint of civic planning to push sex shops to the margins? Or is it better to incorporate them into the fabric of a neighborhood, albeit within certain limits?

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