GREEN RIVER - City officials say there's been little interest from sexually oriented businesses seeking to locate here, but council members are mulling new regulations nonetheless.

A new ordinance proposal aims to keep sexually oriented businesses scattered in locations where they are unlikely to cause problems, officials said.

The proposal would restrict such businesses to the B-1 (business zone) and I-1 (light industrial) areas. The draft ordinance also calls for a 300-foot buffer between adult businesses and residential areas, churches and schools.

City planners noted both Rock Springs and Sweetwater County have already passed ordinances regulating the location and adverse secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses.

Officials said Green River's proposed regulations follow suit.

"This does not regulate morality … they've tried that in other communities, and it just doesn't work," Green River City Planner John Dahlgren said. "The purpose is just to regulate the location and placement of such businesses … and mitigate any adverse impacts.

"It will not keep new businesses of this type from opening in Green River … or force any business to leave the city."

Officials said the city's only sexually oriented business - the Mast Bar located downtown on Flaming Gorge Way across from the new county museum - would not be subject to the new regulations.

Green River Community Planning Director Laura Hansen said even though the Mast is located near two churches, the library and a day care center, the more than 30-year-old business should still be "grandfathered in."

"We do not have the documentation to prove that they cause any problems," Hansen said. She also noted the business spent substantial sums of money in the past year to remodel the bar, which features exotic dancers.

Councilman Tom McCullough said he supported the proposed ordinance, as long as the Mast wasn't affected.

Last month, the Green River Planning and Zoning Commission voted in favor of the proposed sexually oriented business ordinance. The regulations were drafted by the city planning department, and the commission made some minor changes.

The council held a public hearing on the proposal Tuesday night, but received no comments from community residents.

The council will consider the ordinance on first reading at its July 21 meeting.

The ordinance defines exactly what is an adult business. It would regulate the locations, signage, operation standards and inspections of sexually oriented businesses. It also would regulate advertising, hours of operation, lighting and parking, among other items.

While the Green River ordinance would be similar to those in Rock Springs and Sweetwater County, there are some differences.

Unlike the Rock Springs ordinance, Green River's proposal wouldn't mandate background checks and fingerprinting of adult business owners and dancers at topless bars.

Complaints in 2007 about what many residents considered a tasteless advertisement for an adult arcade near the Red Desert - which was plastered on the side of an old yellow school bus alongside Interstate 80 - prompted the county to look at an adult business zoning ordinance.

As part of the process, the commission instituted a yearlong moratorium on any new sexually oriented business development in the county until regulations could be developed. The county's new ordinance went into effect in December.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com.

Last we knew: Green River's planning department drafted a new ordinance to regulate sexually oriented businesses in the city; it was forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The latest: City council members got a first look at the new draft ordinance during a public hearing Tuesday night.

What's next: The council will hold the first reading of the proposed ordinance at its July 21 meeting.]]->