July 20, 2006
Colquitt County - - Strip clubs and other adult businesses are no where in sight in Moultrie. The city has an ordinance that makes it difficult to get an adult entertainment license. And now, County Commissioners want to do the same for un-incorporated areas of Colquitt County.
Want to buy alcohol in parts of Colquitt County? Forget it. Want a little adult entertainment? Forget that too. This year, at least three people have asked county administrators what it would take to open up an adult bar. It got county commissioners thinking.
"It brings a lot of negativity to the county," says Carrie Lawrence a Colquitt County daycare director.
She says if topless bars or adult novelty stores can't be in city limits, they shouldn't be outside city limits. "We're in the county. We're not in city limits. You also have daycares and schools, houses that children live at that are in the county also."
County Commission Chairman Max Hancock agrees. "You're in the Bible belt and we in the Bible belt just feel there's no place for it in our community. Our community is a rural community, with conservative values."
County Commissioners are considering adopting a version of Moultrie's ordinance limiting adult entertainment. It would restrict these types of businesses from locating within 2,000 feet of a residential area, a church, school, government building, or day care center. The County can't stop a business like this from opening up shop, but.... "It would be very difficult for them to do it."
The Commission would require a $3,000 license fee and $3,000 to re-new it each year.
"If I was a parent, I wouldn't want my children around things like that and I don't think my parents at the center would want that either," Lawrence says.
Hancock feels the commission will approve it unanimously. "I think it's a no-brainer, we'll all vote for it. I believe that. There's no one will vote against it."
Under the proposal, any adult entertainment business could only open after 4 PM and close by midnight on weekdays. On weekends, it can't open at all.
The Commission is currently reviewing a draft of the proposed ordinance. Commissioners plan to adopt it at their next meeting in August.
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