A motion to move the location of The Red Door out of District B was declined by a three to two vote at the City Council meeting Thursday night.

The motion was made by Betty Alford-Olive, District B, and seconded by Boo Robinson, District A. During the pre-vote discussion, Mayor Clarence Hawkins pointed out to the board that if the store were to be moved, it must be moved elsewhere in the city. No other alderperson was willing to accept the store in his or her district.

The motion was made after La Koshia Roberts, who acted as legal counsel for the board in the absence of Doug Lawrence, advised the board that its actions must stick to the letter of the law. Olive said she respected the advice immediately the motion to move the store.

“Your ordinances cannot be based primarily on your feelings,” Roberts said. “You would not have a legal leg to stand on if you decided to arbitrarily deny or revoke an occupational license.”

Roberts said any attempt to place stress on The Red Door that would not be placed on another business in the city could be considered arbitrary.

“With that recommendation, you are going to be placing an undue burden on the business owner,” Roberts said. “You have to treat the businesses the same.”

Olive said she had to uphold the standard of the community, citing numerous calls from constituents, despite repeated statements by Roberts saying all board decisions must be based on law and not moral decisions.

“I think it’s an abomination to have it in our community in the first place,” Robinson said.

Brooke Mulkey, a Red Door employee, addressed the meeting. Mulkey said she is a mother who wants ordinances to protect children in place. She also said, however, that people are not more outspoken for the store’s existence because of the unfair disdain shown by some members of the community.

“Everybody is looking down on other people for going in the store,” Mulkey said. “It’s not a town’s place to judge others for what they do in their private time.”

Jeff Ingram of the Morehouse Baptist Association both spoke to the board. Ingram said a recent meeting of the Association voted that The Red Door should not be permitted to operate in Bastrop because it violates Louisiana obscenity laws.

Cal Adams of Cherry Ridge Baptist Church said that, according to information he paid to have collected by Messenger and Associates, the store violates the parish ordinance regarding sex stores. Hawkins explained that the parish and city are incorporated under separate charters, so that ordinance does not apply to the city. 

Adams attempted to present the board with a letter from his legal council, Travis Holley. Holley was absent from the meeting; Roberts interrupted him to advise the Council.

“It appears to be an inappropriate contact between an attorney and the client of another attorney,” Roberts said.

When Adams said he respected her opinion but continued to present the board with the letter, which stated the board violated open session rules when discussing The Red Door at the September meeting. 

Adams also pointed out the number of sexual offenders who live within a one and two mile radius of the store. Adams did not, however, say how many on the list moved to the area after the store opened or draw a correlation between the number of sex offender’s and shop owner Lori Tremaine’s choice of location.

The city introduced two ordinances at Thursday’s meeting. If passed at the November meeting, the first, ordinance number 08-4183, would regulate sex-oriented businesses, and the second, ordinance number 08-4184, would zone sex-oriented businesses.

By law, the city must hold a public hearing before an ordinance that levies fines can be passed at the next meeting.

“I do expect that there will be some changes recommended,” Olive said.

Olive asked if a percentage of sales, similar to the 60/40  split currently applied to restaurant’s alcohol sales, could be written into the ordinance. Hawkins asked about regulating between softcore and hardcore porn. Roberts advised making both ordinances as explicitly definced as possible in order to protect both the community and the business owner.

The public hearing was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 20 in the City Courtroom.