Adult biz hearing ignored

Do people want adult businesses—nightclubs, sex-oriented shops and massage parlors—to stay in the areas where they are now or do they really want them in certain zones? If the answer to this question is based on the public’s attendance at a recent public meeting on Saipan, then it would appear that residents are not actually interested in the issue.

According to CNMI Zoning board chair Henry S. Hofschneider, only two persons, a father and daughter, attended the board’s public meeting in San Antonio on Oct. 17 at 7pm. The two were businessman Jose Ayuyu and his teenaged daughter.

“Only two people showed up. We stayed back to wait for more but nobody else came. It’s quite surprising. Unbelievable,” said Hofschneider.

Nevertheless, the board proceeded with the meeting and stayed in the area for about one hour and a half.

The meeting schedule was repeatedly announced in the media prior to the date.

“Maybe people forgot or got busy. Maybe it’s the timing. But it should have been a good venue for people to speak out, ask questions on an important community issue,” said Hofschneider.

The board earlier extended the public comment period on the proposed zoning regulations for adult businesses on Saipan. Rather than Sept. 30, the board moved the deadline to Oct. 27.

During the extension period, the agency set three public meetings—one at the San Antonio Youth Center on Oct. 17, at the Garapan Central Park on Oct. 18, and Tanapag Community Center on Oct. 19.

Garapan meeting

Hofschneider said about 10 people showed up in the Garapan meeting. Unfortunately, it had to be cancelled because the facility was not available. He said the board had reserved the site for the meeting but Parks and Recreation failed to open it.

“We apologized to the people for the inconvenience. We invited them to attend our next meeting,” he said.

He said some of them showed up in the Tanapag meeting, which was a bit more encouraging, with nearly 20 people in attendance.

Before this, the Zoning Board held a public hearing on the proposed zoning program on Sept. 22 at the Multi-Purpose Center.

“That one was well-attended, mainly by the business sector,” said Hofschneider.

He said the two members of the Ayuyu family in San Antonio attended the meeting to inform the board that “to regulate the adult business is good.”

“They just wanted to share their thoughts on how to make our island more appealing to visitors. Mr. Ayuyu has vast experience with outside visitors. He heard a lot of feedback about the CNMI. It’s very good to listen to him. He stressed that we really need to clean up if we want more tourists,” said the chairman.

He said that Tanapag residents raised concerns about relocation of adult businesses.

“Some of them are college students. They want the board to really consider the traffic, the burden on public safety, they want to know if the board is interested or has a plan to address poker arcades, too,” he said.

He said the Tanapag audience also warned of some adult business going underground in case of zoning.

Balance

In an interview yesterday, Saipan Chamber of Commerce Charles V. Cepeda said the zoning board has to strike a balance between business and government interests.

“The Chamber of Commerce has taken the position that no government agency should force business or dictate them on how to run their business. We all want tourists to come here. There’s no question about it, but we need to meet halfway. Hopefully we can work together,” said Cepeda. “We are working together.”

The zoning board will meet on Nov. 2 to discuss the proposed regulations.

Zoning Board administrator Steve Tilley earlier said that the additional comment time was granted by the board “to hear from other sectors.”

“We want to get more comments from the general public, not just the business sector. We wanted to make sure that we’re hearing it. If any members of the public are interested in this, then we want to hear from them also,” Tilley had said.

Tilley said the September public hearing was attended by landowners of the existing adult businesses, who naturally registered their opposition to the plan. The proposed amendments want to contain adult businesses in two types of zones: overlay parks and business park.

New adult businesses would be allowed to locate only in these zones while existing adult businesses outside the two zones would be considered “nonconforming users.”

As nonconforming establishments, they would be asked to stop operations within one year unless an extension is approved.

Adult businesses include adult arcades, adult cabarets, adult motels, adult motion picture theaters, adult theaters, escort agencies, massage parlors, nude model studios, sex shops, and sexual encounter centers.

The proposed legislation would be enacted by the Saipan Local Delegation as an amendment to the Saipan zoning law.

The Zoning Board also seeks to establish rules for managing the outdoor activities and appearance of adult businesses. The board says that signs for adult businesses should not advertise specified sexual activities, and any label should always be in English. Adult businesses should also be designed so that the merchandise and activities cannot be seen from outside.

Several problems, including aggressive solicitation of patrons, explicit signage, and the placement of adult merchandise in view of minors, have been associated with adult businesses on Saipan.