City restricts sex businesses

CLEARFIELD — The Clearfield City Council unanimously approved a more restrictive sexually oriented business ordinance during its Tuesday meeting.

The City Council, recorder and legal and business licensing departments recently tightened the ordinance after the council was forced to grant a business license to an escort service.

The new ordinance gives the city more power to regulate the introduction of sexually oriented businesses to the city and makes requirements more strict for employees of such businesses.

"We can't ban these businesses," city manager Chris Hillman said. "But we can regulate them."

Aaron Elliott, who has previously been denied business licenses in Park City and Layton, applied for a business license to bring Fantasy, his escort service, to Clearfield. That application was denied because there were some concerns about Elliott's past, said Stacy Reel, a Clearfield business license official.

Elliott appealed to the City Council, which granted the license March 27.

The council likely could have denied the license — two council members voted against it — but the city's sexually oriented business ordinance lacked some of the teeth the council would have liked to enforce the denial.

For example, if Clearfield's ordinance had a provision stating the council may deny a license if the license has been denied in other cities, it could have denied Elliott's appeal, said city attorney Larry Waggoner. The new ordinance has that provision, Hillman said.

The new ordinance also contains a provision, based on a motion made before the council voted, that semi-nude dancing is not permitted at establishments that serve alcohol.

Since March 27, Reel and city recorder Nancy Dean have been researching sexually oriented business ordinances in Layton, Ogden, Salt Lake City and Park City. They cobbled together the stronger ordinance by borrowing from other cities' ordinances, Reel said.

The old ordinance did not require a licensee to apply for a new license every year, but the new ordinance does. Other changes included making sure all employees of sexually oriented businesses are 21 or older.

The new ordinance will not cause Elliott to lose his license, Hillman said, because it was granted under the old ordinance.

"When he renews his license next year, he will have to conform to the new code," he said.

But Elliott must conform to some provisions of the new ordinance within the next month, such as escorts' age, Hillman said.

Elliott did not return phone calls seeking comment.

During an April 17 City Council work session, most council members made it clear they would rather not have an escort service in Clearfield.

Mayor Don Wood told the council it must make its licensing decisions within the framework of the law and not by moral stances.

"I don't believe anyone in this room is an advocate of a business that exploits women or the weaknesses of man," Wood said. "We're here to regulate," Wood said.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com