Sex in the City (of San Angelo)

Councilmember Charlotte Farmer raised some eyebrows and made a few blush at yesterday’s city council meeting with an agenda item she requested.  

 “Do we in San Angelo currently have an ordinance that prevents a business that is sexually oriented from operating within the city limits of San Angelo?” Farmer asked, directing the question to both legal and code compliance offices.

“No, we have a regulatory ordinance,” answered Interim City Attorney, Dan Saluri. “We can’t prohibit what the courts define as first amendment establishments altogether. We can limit through zoning, which we do, with 500-1,000 foot distance requirements. We can also to some degree regulate the state code, which we don’t do with the aspect of requiring a permit to operate. A permit might set certain standards for an operation, like how many employees they have to have per square foot, what kind of observation they have to do, what kind of health and safety inspections they might be subject to, etc. So, we regulate location, and under our regulations there’s probably a very, very limited number of potential locations, especially when you get closer to the core area, and that’s probably reflected in the number of sexually oriented businesses that currently exist. But, if you get into a major commercial area where there’s no churches, residences, parks, that type of thing, say a shopping center, the potential is there. But under any ordinance we couldn’t say you have to be within a thousand feet from any telephone pole, we can’t adopt regulations that eliminate all potential locations for those kinds of businesses.”

Farmer looked to fellow Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff, as she says she considers her the city zoning guru, for guidance in the matter. Farmer and others assumed the city had an ordinance in place prohibiting the sale of X- rated materials, such as tapes, magazines or other sexual paraphernalia within the city limits. Despite Farmer's attempt to include Grindstaff in the taboo discussion, it failed. Grindstaff, who had been very vocal regarding each agenda item before this one, appeared she had decided to sit this issue out and remained tight lipped on the subject with the rest of the council.

“What you are talking about is whether or not that would qualify the business as a sexually oriented retail sale business,” Saluri asked for clarification. “[If that is the case] then it would come within the perimeters of zoning regulations and it has to be certain distances from other kinds of developments.”

Farmer decided aloud she would be more explicit and stop dancing around the issue and asked, "How does that cover and entail the filming of X-rated videos in a business, per the location of that business?”

“You would be talking about an activity and that would depend on whether or not the actual filming, or let’s just call it the exposure of it,” Saluri said. “Be it the sexually oriented aspect of it, if it was open to the public and being dispensed at that time or if it was something that was being practically created but not being dispensed at that location and not a public entertainment thing at that location.”

Farmer then made the assumption that a state permit is required to carry on that type of business, to which to Saluri’s knowledge do not exist. “There are penal code provisions that could come into play depending upon what they [display],” he said.

Rebecca Guerra, city planning manager did her homework on just what exactly the city has on the books in regards to sexually oriented businesses within the city limits. She explained that the city regulations on the subject is broken down into eight subcategories under the label sexually oriented businesses, or as Guerra put it, SOB’s.

“Nowhere within those eight categories does it talk about the filming of individuals in a partial or fully unclothed state on private property,” Guerra said. “The state of Texas currently through the Texas Commission of Film, which is under the governor’s office, does not require a permit for any filming done on a private property regardless of the state of undress or lack thereof of any individual as long as on private property and by consent of consensual adults. On state property, or public property, a permit is required.”

Guerra summarized that as long as the filming of sexually explicit material is not displayed in a public manner, it’s okay and in no way illegal.  “There is no permit required for the state of Texas, nor Tom Green County, nor for the city of San Angelo, and as long as the practices are being done on private property between consensual adults,[and] are not available to the public for their enjoyment they may proceed without having to obtain a permit, and it will be consistent with the zoning ordinance of the city.”

Farmer then exposed the reason behind the raising of the issue in the first place.

“If I receive a constituent complaint, and I did, of adult filming activities going on at an office location downtown. They’re perfectly legal?” she asked for clarification.

“The state of Texas doesn’t require a permit, we don’t require a permit, as long as it’s by consensual adults over the age of 18 on private property, no permit is required, nor is it regulated by the zoning ordinance,” Guerra stated.

Farmer said raising the issue was difficult for her as she was in unfamiliar territory. Apparently there is a rumor circulating downtown that pornographic films are being produced in the back room of a downtown office or business somewhere.

“It’s a tough question to answer to someone when you really don’t know. I may not morally agree to it, but it’s a question that more than one or two people have asked, and heard the same rumors of a business downtown here and I couldn’t answer it, so it’s been answered for the public and I feel like I’ve done what I can do to advise where our limitations are in authority.”

What one could gather from all of this is that as long as you are not conducting sexually explicit activity in a public place, or on public property without a permit, performing sexual acts and filming of pornography is legal within the city of San Angelo.