It was an issue the city worked on for years, but last week, the Austin City Council finally passed a zoning ordinance and a regulatory ordinance for adult-oriented businesses.

The journey was long, but has an end that seems to please many community members, though it has been met with disapproval by the owners of the two existing adult-oriented businesses, The Brown Derby and Hey Rube.

The zoning ordinance states adult-oriented businesses are now allowed only in a 53-acre plot of land by the industrial park, near Todd Park, except for The Brown Derby and Hey Rube, which can remain in the downtown area.

The regulatory ordinance establishes that all adult-oriented businesses must obtain a license for operation and pay an annual fee, states the causes for which a license can be suspended or revoked and sets the hours such businesses can be open.

The process of creating the ordinances started six years ago because "(adult) book stores, gentlemen's clubs or whatever you want to call them, had to have a place for zoning and there wasn't any in the community at that time," says 3rd Ward council member Dick Lang, who also serves as chair of the Ordinance Committee. "We worked on it not only to please the (adult-oriented) businesses, but also existing businesses and residential areas and in doing that, we came up with the Industrial Park."

Zoning was an especially important step because "without zoning, you'd have what we had years ago, and that was 'spot zoning.' That has been nothing but headaches," Lang says of the zoning plan that allowed people to put businesses almost wherever they wanted to in town. "This puts things in place."

"It makes sense because we need a place to have designated for these businesses, and after discussing and reading about how these would affect other businesses, the Industrial Park area seemed like the best place," says Jeanne Poppe, 2nd Ward council member who serves on the Ordinance Committee.

The licensing, Lang says, was just a natural step to take after reviewing the policies of cities across the nation. "$150 is a very, very minimal fee for the regulation of the license … it's nothing, really."

However, the owners of The Brown Derby and Hey Rube have a different opinion and are planning to file lawsuits soon.

"The ordinances are clearly unconstitutional," said Randall Tigue, the attorney and spokesperson for The Brown Derby and Hey Rube . "I don't think we'll sue over the zoning ordinance because it does not directly affect my client … but it is an example of how poorly thought out the ordinance is.

"For example, the distances in the ordinance are from property line to property line and if a tiny fraction falls in it, the lot is disqualified. There's almost no place an adult business can relocate. There are maybe three or four in the whole city. That's a dishonest representation of the ordinance and anyone who wanted to challenge it is a sitting duck."

He said detailed arguments of the second ordinance would wait until a lawsuit had been filed. "If it's Jan. 1, we have some time to wait."

Austinites, though, seem pleased with the ordinances. Mayor Bonnie Rietz says the discussion she's heard about the passage of the ordinances has been positive. "I've heard nothing negative … the two or three people who have approached me about it have said they're glad we passed it."

Lang also hasn't heard any complaints. "I talked to an awful lot of people and many weren't in support of it because they did not understand it," says Lang. "But once they understood it, they were all in favor of it and thought it was a good ordinance. I even had other bar owners look at it and say it was a good ordinance."

Poppe hasn't heard a lot of discussion about it from residents in her ward, but agrees the ordinances is solid. "I think we've made a fair and forthright decision. We spent time on it, it wasn't quick. It was a well-thought out decision."

Since it has taken the city six years to create and refine the ordinances, neither Poppe nor Lang seems worried they won't hold up in court.

"Every person has the right under the constitution to take an issue to court. But, I think the advice we got from [city attorney] David Hoversten that the city was in step with the rules, regulations and laws, was solid advice," says Lang.

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.