Sexually oriented businesses are having trouble finding legal places to open shop in Gainesville, which could pose problems for the city.
On Monday, the Gainesville City Commission consulted Eric Kelly, a land zoning expert, on how to meet the constitutional requirement to provide proper zoning for all types of businesses.
In the past six months, the prospective owners of an adult bookstore and a "gentleman's club" contacted the city with concerns about a lack of proper zoning, said Ralph Hilliard, the city's planning manager.
If a sexually oriented business were to challenge the constitutionality of Gainesville's zoning ordinances, they may be able to place a shop in areas undesirable to the Gainesville City Commission, Kelly said.
"Essentially, an unconstitutional zoning ordinance is like having no ordinance at all in Gainesville," Kelly said.
The Commission will likely not meet on the issue again for several months, said Commissioner Jeanna Mastrodicasa.
