OXFORD — Voters on Thursday night passed an ordinance regulating sex-oriented businesses and amended the special amusements ordinance to block liquor licenses for such enterprises.
Some had hoped the special town meeting would give voters a chance to stop the town from allowing strip clubs, but Town Manager Michael Chammings said that wouldn’t be legal. He said if voters didn’t pass the ordinance, sex-oriented businesses could operate unrestricted in Oxford.
“Without this ordinance, we have absolutely no regulations for this,” Chammings said. “They go in front of the Planning Board, the Planning Board has no choice but to issue them a permit. Then they’re doing everything they want without regulations.”
Both the ordinance and the amendment passed with strong majorities from the 50 or so voters.
At the beginning of the meeting, Robert Ragan, whose permit application last month spurred the special town meeting, asked permission to speak. As a nonresident, Ragan needed a two-thirds vote from residents to speak at the meeting. He was denied, as was the owner of Tom’s Gifts, an adult gift store inside the Undercover Antique Mall on Route 26.
“How can they give Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, then immediately violate somebody’s First Amendment rights?” Ragan asked after the meeting. He said he plans to look over the final version of the ordinance before he comments on it.
He said he was insulted by the insinuation that his business would encourage prostitution, illegal drug use and other criminal activities.
Ragan wants to open a restaurant and strip club called Club Eks near the Oxford Public Safety Building on Route 26. He said he had planned to serve beer but not liquor.
Ragan owns Sexy Secrets, a lingerie boutique on Route 26 across from Oxford Lil’ Mart gas station and convenience store.
The 19-page ordinance defines what constitutes a sex-oriented business. It requires a license for the business and one for each employee, including proof that all employees are at least 18 years old. The business license fee is $100 with a $50 annual renewal; the employee fee is $50 with a $25 annual renewal.
Alcoholic drinks would be banned from all sex-oriented businesses. Chammings said a study of such businesses showed that alcohol exacerbates criminal activity.
He said the three sex-oriented businesses in town have 90 days to ensure they comply with the new ordinance. After 90 days, they will need licenses.
Rick Kimball, a resident of Oxford and a minister at Harvest Hills Church in Auburn, said he didn’t like it that a strip club didn’t require voter approval, as the casino did. He said he didn’t vote for the casino but respected the will of voters.
“We’re not even going to get a vote on (strip clubs),” he said.
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