If the house is rocking, don't bother knocking

I love headlines like this: City Of Duncanville Cracking Down On Sex Parties. Who knew they had them? You can almost see the light bulb going on over Wayne Dolcefino's head. And I can't believe In the Pink hasn't covered this already.

I want to call your attention to this story about how Duncanville dealt with this matter, and see if any of it sounds familiar.

The Duncanville City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday night preventing the operation of sex clubs in residences in response to complaints from neighbors of a private swingers club.

Council member Johnette Jameson said the ordinance was the result of years of complaints about activities at the home near Cedar Ridge Drive and Interstate 20. Although the city has regulations pertaining to sexually oriented businesses, it has not been able to document business activities at the home, which is in Ms. Jameson's district.

She said the ordinance is targeting public nuisances related to the Cherry Pit club rather than what people are doing as part of the club.

"We are not addressing what activities are going on," she said. "We're addressing the traffic. We have to be good neighbors to each other."

Mayor David Green agreed that nearby residents have been bothered by the influx of cars coming to the home.

"People can't find parking," he said. "It's really detracting from the neighborhood."

But one of the home's residents, Julie Norris, said she thinks city officials are disguising their attempts to regulate private behavior at her home by complaining about traffic.

"If it was about traffic, why are there only [no parking] signs in front of my house?" she asked.

Hmm, using concerns about traffic to pass an ordinance dealing with a particular threat to a single neighborhood. I know I've heard something like that recently...

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 10, 2007 to The great state of Texas