San Diego’s very own and extra special ex-gay, James Hartline threw a press conference / tour of local adult businesses he claims violate city zoning laws. Hartline contends adult businesses on the tour are located within 1,000 ft of residences, churches, schools, parks, or public-service facilities. Hartline even invited the SDPD’s vice unit which didn’t show up:

While some of the businesses are clearly within 1,000 feet of such properties, Lt. Lawrence McKinney, who heads the police department’s vice unit and has met with Hartline on other occasions, told CityBeat Hartline doesn’t have his facts straight.

“The concerns are legitimate, but the legal foundation that we have to work with just isn’t there,” he said, noting that all of the businesses are exempt from the relevant section of the municipal code because they were established before the law was passed.

Hartline contends that the businesses changed hands or received licenses after the law was passed and are subsequently in violation.

McKinney, who attributed the police no-show to scheduling conflicts and a last minute decision by Hartline to invite the media, said that’s just not correct. “I personally went out, I took the police code-compliance supervisor and I took a city attorney who works in the police department as one of our legal advisors, and we went to all of the places that he had articulated, and we had a difference of opinion,” he said.[*]

If Hartline has evidence to substantiate his claims adult businesses are not legitimately grandfathered in, Ex-Gay Watch would be interested in seeing it. If this story is picked up by the religious right media perhaps Hartline will have another opportunity to present it.

Now in case you’re curious this is how the city of San Diego Municipal Code section 14.01.06 defines “adult stores:”

Adult stores: Any business that devotes more than 15 percent of the total display, shelf, rack, table, stand, or floor used for the display of merchandise for sale or rent to the display of books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, tapes, records, DVDs, CD-Rom, or other forms of visual or audio representations that are characterized by an emphasis upon depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas or instruments, devices, or paraphernalia that are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities.

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