A new ordinance passed by Henderson’s city council significantly expands the area in which an adult bookstore or novelty shop can now open.
The ordinance requires the shops to stay in industrial areas and increases the distance that these shops must be from schools, churches and homes from 1,000 to 1,500 feet with no exceptions. Strip clubs are not allowed; only novelty shops and books stores.
Still, some neighbors are upset with the change.
“Keep the sin in sin city,” Steve Stevenson told the city council at a meeting just before the new ordinance was approved.
Sherri Miller, who has lived in Henderson for nearly a decade, fought tears as she addressed the council to speak out against the adult businesses.
“They can go to the strip if they want to see that kind of thing but my neighborhood is family,” Miller said.
Henderson’s decision to increase the land area that allows sexually-oriented businesses comes in the midst of a battle between the city and a business owner who tried to open an adult novelty store but was not allowed to do so.
Earlier this year, Edward Wheeler tried to finalize the opening of the third location of his adult bookstore, The Love Shop, in Henderson.
Wheeler said he felt he was unfairly denied a license to operate in Henderson after spending $20,000 in planning and attorney fees to get the businesses started.
“We were just trying to do business, bring 20 to 30 jobs,” Wheeler said. “I would have never spent the money had they been straight from the beginning.”
Wheeler’s shop sells a variety of items including lingerie, lotions, candles and sexual items. Wheeler says his shop is for “romantic couples,” but was unfairly targeted by Henderson for being too racy.
“We came in as a boutique that has a certain portion that might be classified as adult,” Wheeler said. “We’re a romantic-based industry.”
However, Henderson spokesman Bud Cranor said that Wheeler’s store wasn’t allow to open because a large portion of The Love Shop’s sales come from graphic adult items.
The city of Henderson only allows novelty shops to operate as long as their sales of graphic adult items are less than 10 percent — meaning the majority of sales must come from items like lingerie, candles and lotions.