Elsewhere in this issue of the Nouvelle is a story about council's general desire to see the town's landuse bylaw enforced when it comes to adult entertainment — whatever that entertainment may be.
We don't think regulation of activities already regulated to an extent by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission is that pressing of an issue, but if council is serious about it, then let's clean up the ambiguous language in the landuse bylaw. Let's also get rid of the inherent unfairness of the existing bylaw's apparent provisions that by their very nature limit what can be done on some pieces of land without limiting what can be done on similarly zoned pieces of land.
To say Mayor Ernie Isley was right when he called the landuse bylaw poorly worded when it comes to adult entertainment is to utter an obvious understatement. The mayor was right. The bylaw is horribly worded. It essentially serves as a ban on undefined and open-ended “adult entertainment” activities occurring within 225 metres of schools, parks or churches.
When it comes right down to it, drinking alcohol, in and of itself, is an adult entertainment activity. It's illegal for people under 18 to serve it, consume it or possess it. Alcohol, at its best, helps entertain us. If you follow that argument logically, then, you can't have any alcohol serving within 225 metres of a church, (or in the church at mass) or a park or school. And the bylaw as it now exists doesn't make allowances for who was where first, so, at least theoretically, a new piece of parkland could sterilize business at a long-standing watering hole 200 metres away.
Even if one doesn't consider drinking to be adult entertainment, and instead goes with nude or semi-nude dancing in that category, the bylaw is flawed, because it allows zoning beyond a parcel of land to encumber what can be done on that parcel of land.
There are cases where this happens with specific types of facilities, but Bonnyville council isn't in the regular business of zoning for landfills or intensive livestock operations.
If an activity is permitted in a certain zone, it's permitted, period. If it's not, it's not. It shouldn't matter when Jane Doe sets up a school 190 metres away.
Aside from the need for fairness, council must also look at the overall public good in determining if it needs to regulate adult entertainment in any particular way. There are reasonable arguments for and against regulation, and some may be necessary at the municipal level.
That said, we doubt the public has any particular appetite for it at this point. Those who feel municipal regulation of adult entertainment is needed in Bonnyville, however, should take the opportunity to voice their views to their elected officials. If we're going to have municipal regulation of something already somewhat regulated by the province, let's have it so that it reflects the genuine wishes of the public and common sense principles businesses can bank on and plan around.
-30-
