Adults’ Shops to Pay City

Adults-only businesses that want to operate in Fountain Valley will have to pay fees to offset the city’s cost to administer and enforce a recently adopted law regulating where and how they operate.

The City Council this week adopted fees for adult businesses and their employees.

Fountain Valley has no adult businesses, such as topless bars and adult video and novelty shops, and no applications are pending, city officials said. But they want to have regulations in place in case any should seek to open.

The ordinance, which takes effect Feb. 14, will allow the city to charge a $500 fee for an adult-business license application and a $250 employee license fee for each worker, including dancers and other performers at clubs.

Planning Services Manager Andrew Perea said the application fees would reimburse the city for the cost of background investigations as well as the expense of issuing the permits.

The council also set an annual permit fee of $2,500 for adult establishments that offer live entertainment and $1,000 for adult venues with no live entertainment, such as book and video stores.

Perea said the administrative fees would help cover the costs for police and code enforcement inspections of adult businesses to make sure they are complying with city laws.