Adult Bookstore Riles Renton Neighborhood -- Loophole In City Law Allows Porn Near Grade School

RENTON

Every day for three weeks, Heidi Carlson has sat in silent protest with a picket sign at the edge of a busy street.

An adult bookstore recently opened in the Highlands neighborhood where she has lived for five years. She's one of more than 500 residents who say it's too close to an elementary school.

"I saw a sign that said, `Coming soon,' and my jaw just dropped," Carlson said. She never imagined such a shop could open so close to her home.

The Adult Only Bookstore, wedged between restaurants and a Christian bookstore in a northeast Renton strip mall, is legally sited on commercially zoned property, one block northeast of Highlands Elementary School.

The city's ordinance on adult-entertainment businesses - a precedent-setting measure that was upheld in a 1986 U.S. Supreme Court ruling - requires that they be at least 1,000 feet from any church, public park, school or home. However, the ordinance's definition of adult entertainment doesn't include adult bookstores.

The Renton City Council is expected to adopt a moratorium Monday night on permits for new adult bookstores, then take six months to discuss and draft new adult-entertainment restrictions that include bookstores, says City Attorney Larry Warren.

"We can't do anything with this business but, hopefully, we can halt future (adult bookstore) businesses from locating close to schools," said Jay Covington, city administrator.

But some people think that is not enough.

Carlson and others began their crusade a few weeks ago to pressure the store's owner to leave. Every day, at least two people picket in front of the strip mall.

So far, the group has collected more than 500 signatures in opposition to the store. A rally is planned for 1 p.m. tomorrow at Highlands Elementary.

Sally Jones, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said there's nothing wrong with the bookstore, except its location. She wore a sun bonnet this week to keep cool in the afternoon heat as she held up a sign and a petition.

"Our beef is that it's close to the school," Jones said. "It doesn't need to be this close to our kids."

Most of the opponents, whose children often cut through the bookstore parking lot to buy candy at the nearby Safeway, fear the youngsters might get a glimpse of the merchandise when customers open the door.

But bookstore owner Ron Harbin says if parents are concerned, they shouldn't have their children cut through his parking lot. He's not doing anything wrong, he says, and he won't budge.

"This is not like the Old West, where they can run me out of town," Harbin said.

Harbin says he's gone out of his way to make his store tasteful and inconspicuous, choosing an innocuous name and spending $1,000 to coat the storefront windows so no one can see inside. A sign in front warns that customers must be at least 18 years old to enter.

Still, some worry that the store is a blemish on their family-oriented neighborhood. Some say they'll move if the store doesn't.

The Highlands neighborhood is a place where children's bikes and toys litter front lawns and a mix of single-family, duplex and low-income housing shares the hillside streets.

Some residents worry the bookstore will give their neighborhood a sleazy reputation and draw illegal goings-on like prostitution and drug dealing. They also worry about lower property values or other businesses moving out - what city officials refer to as "negative secondary effects."

"It'll start getting a reputation that this is a place where people don't care," said Kim Drew, Carlson's brother. "Just because it's legal doesn't mean the people of this community have to put up with it."

Residents say they'll picket as long as it takes to get Harbin to move. "He's got a lease for three years, we'll be there for three years if it takes that long," Jones said.