Sex might sell, but if the Cortez Planning and Zoning Commission has its way, it won’t be selling in downtown Cortez.

The commission, along with City Attorney Jim Hatter, is working to develop and adopt a set of regulations which will govern adult entertainment businesses in Cortez.

"This is something that we want to look at very carefully," said Hatter. "We want to get it right the first time so we don’t spend the next 10 years getting nailed in court."

Hatter said Wednesday that he has reviewed the adult entertainment policies of other cities and will use that information in drafting an ordinance for the city councilors to review.

Among the commission’s proposed regulations is one which will restrict adult entertainment establishments to industrial districts outside of residential and downtown areas, said Building/Zoning Inspector Jeff Reinhart.

"There may be other areas that might or might not be appropriate — it would be decided on a case by case basis," Reinhart said.

The preliminary draft ordinance describes adult entertainment establishments as an adult arcade, book, video or novelty store, cabaret, motel, theater that presents material which, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

This definition leaves a huge interpretive gray area, Reinhart said.

"No matter what you come up with, the ultimate say will be in the courts — and that can be true of any legislation." said Reinhart.

"You can’t actually regulate any of the content (of an establishment) — it has to be content-neutral legislation," said Reinhart, noting that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment allows for freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

"What you try to legislate against are the secondary crimes, like prostitution or other things, that can go along with that type of use," he said.

Reinhart said that a potential business owners’ First Amendment rights are not infringed upon unless that person is completely banned from the city.

"If you provide a zone where they can locate, then generally you are in good shape," he said.

Reinhart said that this does leave the possibility of creating a district filled with a number of adult-oriented businesses.

"By restricting it to a single zone, though, they may look at the competition and decide that they don’t want to come into Cortez," he said.

Reinhart told Planning and Zoning Commissioners that there is an adult video store that is planning to open soon on North Broadway.

At the meeting, the building/zoning inspector said that it is not the intention of the city to target this legislation toward the new video business or any other already existing businesses in town, such as Front Row Seat or Video Palace, which both carry a small percent of adult material.

Within the code, businesses will be allowed to carry a certain percent of adult material, he said

"What has happened in the past is that this type (of business) has shown up in a lot of communities one right after another," Reinhart said.

With this first adult video business moving in, the city is looking at this legislation as an effort to manage any additional adult businesses in the future, Reinhart said. "If we can do that, we will be ahead of the curve," he said.

Reinhart said that the Planning and Zoning Commission hopes to have the preliminary draft ordinance in the City Council’s packets by next week for their review.

"This will allow (council) to look at it three or four times before they vote on it," Reinhart said. The council will then set a public hearing, he said.