Gazette: “Porn store opening delayed”

Today’s Gazette reports on the status of Capital Video’s planned porn shop at 135 King Street in Northampton, and comments on the issues surrounding Capital Video’s shop in Springfield at Apremont Triangle. The Northampton store will open in June or early July.

Capital Video says construction issues have delayed them at their Northampton site. Meanwhile, an appeal of their Site Plan approval remains unresolved. Outstanding issues include how the exterior of the store will look, security around the store, and traffic flows. NoPornNorthampton raised these and other issues on December 20 in an open letter to Capital Video attorney Michael Pill. Despite Capital Video’s protestations of openness, we received no response.

Capital Video attorney Lesley Rich appears to concede that the Springfield store, and the area around it, have had problems. This stands in contrast to his assertion last fall, published on TalkBackNorthampton, that “Capital enjoys an excellent relationship with its host communities, and has not encountered any of the problems or detrimental effects that have been put forth.” Rich now says “remedial actions” have been taken at its Springfield store.

While these actions are welcome, we are skeptical that they will result in lasting improvements for the Apremont Triangle area. Police dispatch reports going back to 1998 paint a picture of burglaries, panic alarms, ambulance calls and
altercations in and around the Amazing.net store at Apremont Triangle. Capital Video has gone back on promises to Northampton, resisted (unsuccessfully) viewing booth health regulations in Kittery, Maine, and has a financial incentive to be lax about activities within their stores with viewing booths (patron: “…theres more money going in the machines with lights off and holes in the walls”).

One of Capital Video’s own patrons suggests an awareness that lax periods follow restrictive ones: “I agree that it is not really worth the time with the bright lights and no holes but they will be back eventually. Be Patient!” It’s time to break this cycle and win permanent gains for Apremont Triangle with viewing booth health regulations, better adult-use zoning, and shutting down Capital Video’s Springfield store as a public nuisance. Let Mayor Charles Ryan know how you feel.

Here are excerpts from today’s Gazette article:

Capital Video initially planned to install viewing booths at 135 King St. last year, but dropped those plans after a storm of opposition from city residents and leaders.

“The city (Springfield) just had a problem with the booths,” said Rich, who plans to attend the June 18 [entertainment license] hearing. “That particular part of town has had problems even outside of our business.”

He added: “We’ve taken a tremendous number of remedial actions, we’ve changed management and installed security cameras to keep people from loitering around outside and inside the store.”

The Gazette article mentions NoPornNorthampton’s April 30 mailing to voters around the Apremont Triangle area:

In the letters, NoPornNorthampton provides neighborhood residents with a primer on how to regulate adult establishments through grassroots activism and zoning controls, among other measures.

“It just seemed like a lot of people aren’t aware that all those solutions are available,” [NPN co-founder Adam] Cohen said. “We thought with a big public mailing, people could consider all of their options.”

Added 5/25/07:

Urban Compass, a valuable source of reporting about Amazing.net and Apremont Triangle, reported on NPN’s Springfield mailing and subsequent developments in “Pearl and Bridge Street developments” (May 24):

The Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association, which includes residents in a portion of downtown Springfield, held an event on May 17 to honor the opening of their new offices in Kimball Towers on Chestnut Street at Apremont Triangle. Mayor Charles Ryan addressed the group, and G. Michael Dobbs of the Reminder was there to publish a report for this week’s paper. From the article:

Ryan…announced he will convene a hearing on June 18 [at 3:30 pm, City Hall Room 220] to consider the rescinding of the entertainment license for Amazing.net, the adult entertainment store at Apremont Triangle across from Kimball Towers. He
said the Police Department has filed “several serious charges” against the store.

That particular entertainment license hearing seemed for several
months to have completely disappeared from anyone’s list of priorities…

NoPornNorthampton’s Adam Cohen contributed to the discussion by issuing a mailing
to 1,700 downtown residents advising them on steps they could take to
urge higher standards at the store in question… According to what
residents have told me on this subject, there is much room for
improvement at Apremont Triangle with respect to the store in question, and an allegiance to be had with efforts toward public safety and health standards, to say nothing of what great potential exists there if a more friendly environment for development could be created.

See also:

Springfield Republican Reports on Apremont Triangle Mailing about Amazing.net
“Residents…told The Republican that they believe the store draws
prostitutes as well as vagrants who publicly urinate on their
properties….

“David B. Panagore, chief development officer for the Springfield
Finance Control Board, agreed with an assertion by Tuckey [Michael M.
Tuckey Sr., president of the Armoury-Quadrangle Civic Association] that a sex-oriented video and products store discourages companies that could revitalize the area from moving in.”

Springfield
Police Commissioner: “…it is fair to say that ‘Amazing’ constitutes
an attractive nuisance that contributes to blighted conditions there”
“We have a great interest in the quality of life in the vicinity of the
triangle and have previously taken some steps to mitigate it. Much
remains to be done and it is fair to say that ‘Amazing’ constitutes an
attractive nuisance that contributes to blighted conditions there.

“We…would work with any group that has innovative ideas for dealing
with this condition, particularly if they transcend the inherent
limitations of an enforcement only approach.”

Capital Video Springfield: Secondary Effects Extend to Prostitution; Actions the City Can Take
[Fred Rowe:] Outside, we have both male and female prostitutes standing
across the street, by our building, and we have a vacant lot that we
use for parking. They stand there, and they wait for [customers] to
come out, and they solicit them, and they try to take them out behind
our building, and do their business. It’s unbelievable.

Capital Video’s Springfield Porn Shop Repels Sought-After Businesses
“The
[potential grocery] market is really the key, we think, to the whole
building. The people that come, the market operator–their issue is
number one, the Video Expo [Amazing.net] across the street, and the
crowd that you see around it…”

Springfield
License Commission to Review Alleged Capital Video Violations for Drug
Sales and Lewd Activity On or Near the Premises
The hearing, allegedly for license violations regarding five counts of
illegal activity including drug sales on or near the premises and lewd
activity, was postponed early this week. The License Commission does
not invite public comment at its hearings, but residents can send
concerns about Amazing.net to: Springfield License Commission, Room
317, City Hall, Springfield, MA 01103.