We are pleased to report that Northampton’s City Council has just approved all three adult-use zoning ordinances under consideration. Each ordinance secured the required two-thirds majority of the council members. In brief, the ordinances regulate signage with adult content, require a 500-foot buffer zone between establishments with porn viewing booths and homes, and a 500-foot buffer zone between large adult establishments and homes. For full details about the ordinances, click here.
This vote was the second reading of the adult-use ordinances. Their approval tonight means they are now in effect. If Capital Video still wants to open a porn shop at 135 King Street, they will need to reduce the adult material on display to under 1,000 square feet. Their plans had called for 6,222 square feet of retail space.
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At the council meeting, NPN’s Adam Cohen presented the mayor with 379 new petition signatures collected between October 6 and November 2. This brings the total number of petitions collected since July to 1,551. Of these, 1,016 were signatures of Northampton residents, and 535 were signatures of residents from the larger region and tourists. Read more about the petition.
The meeting saw several speakers voice their concerns about drug use in the city. NPN’s Jendi Reiter observed to the council that Capital Video’s porn shop in Wethersfield contains a large display case of bongs near its front door. Above the case a large sign reads, “For TOBACCO Use Only”.
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NoPornNorthampton would like to thank the many, many volunteers, donors and others who brought our campaign to this point. The story at 135 King Street may not be over, but Northampton has a much healthier zoning structure now than it did in June. We would also like to thank our mayor and city councilors for weighing the evidence carefully over the past four months and coming up with appropriate, balanced legislation for Northampton.