Citizens for Community Values provides the following suggestion in The Power of One (PDF): …Clear Channel and Media One, which own 50% of all the billboards in America, have adopted a policy not to accept advertising from sexually oriented businesses. Many other billboard companies also take pride in such a policy. Citizens have been successful […]
What You Can Do
Northampton Building Inspector Complaint Form
If a business is violating the law, one recourse for citizens is to complain to Northampton’s Office of the Inspector of Buildings. Here is the complaint form: Northampton Building Inspector Complaint Form (PDF, updated on 2/27/07) Forms should be filed in paper with the Building Commissioner, 240 Main Street, Northampton, MA 01060. In the case […]
Gazette: Residents Can Ask Planning Board to Reconsider Capital Video Decision
Today’s Gazette reports on the December 14 Planning Board approval of Capital Video’s Site Plan. “Planning Board members David Wilensky and Paul Voss said, despite [Capital Video attorney Michael] Pill’s assurances, they were concerned whether Capital Video would hold to the city’s prohibition on sexually explicit or suggestive window displays.” The Gazette notes that “Although […]
Potential Nuisance Claims Against Capital Video
A private nuisance is a thing or activity that substantially and unreasonably interferes with a landowner’s use and enjoyment of his property, or with his interest in that property. (Edward J. Kionka, Torts in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition [St. Paul: West Group, 1999], p.312.) The test is whether “normal persons living in the community would […]
The Republican: 90-Day Limit on Northampton Yard Signs
Today’s Republican reports on time limits for political yard signs in WMass communities. In Northampton, “signs not pertaining to an election must be taken down 90 days after they are put up.” We encourage our supporters to comply with this ordinance. We appreciate all of you who put up our yard signs, helping us to […]
March 2007 Conference Announcement: “Pornography and Pop Culture: Reframing Theory, Re-thinking Activism”
March 23-25 Wheelock College Boston, MA The so-called “porn wars” that were fought over the feminist critique of contemporary mass-marketed pornography derailed important academic and activist work. It is time to move on by reframing our thinking on pornography, especially in light of the important changes that have occurred in both technology and pop culture […]
XBiz: “NoPornNorthampton Defeats Capital Video”
XBiz calls itself “The Industry Source” for adult business owners and webmasters. Today it reports that “An organized group that waged a local war against Capital Video from opening a large adult store in the middle of town was victorious… The decision to regulate the sale of adult content within town limits grew from a […]
Gazette: “Council to take 2nd vote on porn store regulations”
Today’s Gazette notes that the Northampton City Council will take a second and final vote on several adult-use zoning changes at its meeting on Thursday, November 2. These ordinances will affect signage, the location of stores with porn viewing booths, and the location of all large adult businesses. All the ordinances were approved by a […]
Key Adult Use Ordinance Weakened – Urgent Citizen Action Needed
Northampton’s proposed new adult use ordinances made it out of the Economic Development Housing & Land Use Committee (EDHLU) meeting yesterday, but not without being weakened. NoPornNorthampton is concerned about these two changes:1) Adjacent aisles no longer count towards the 1,000 square-foot threshold of adult material on display. The intent of the original ordinance was […]
Major Corporations Profit from Porn
[Updated June 25, 2007] The profits from porn movies and phone sex flow through several “blue-chip” American corporations. These include Holiday Inn, Marriott, AOL Time Warner, Comcast, EchoStar Communications, DirecTV, Adelphia, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems and AT&T. If you own shares in these companies, you might consider discussing the matter with their shareholder […]