CEDAR HILLS — Those scantily clad men and women who lifelessly smile from glossy magazines might soon be covered up in Cedar Hills.
City officials recently passed an ordinance that will promote "child-appropriate" standards in businesses, schools and public buildings in Cedar Hills, but it might be up to residents to enforce the resolution.
City officials say the standards are just a suggestion, not a requirement.
"I just don't think it's necessary (to make the standards a requirement)," City Councilman Jim Perry said. "If there were inappropriate, pornographic things (in commercial businesses), our residents would be outraged and putting pressure on those businesses to comply with what the community expects. I just think it's a really nice thing to be clear about the standard of the community."
Perry said new businesses that come to the community will be informed of the city's standard during the approval process. Right now the city only has a handful of dentists' offices and a senior assisted living center that make up its commercial base, but a Wal-Mart Supercenter and strip mall have been approved to come to the northern Utah County city.
The premise of the resolution is based on similar measures that have been taken by Provo, Orem, Lindon and other cities because of a concern about "the proliferation of written and pornographic material that is placed in public view, which may have a degrading effect on a wholesome child-rearing and family environment," according to the resolution.
An activist group called Citizens for Families has promoted similar child-friendly resolutions to various cities in Utah. Cedar Hills' City Council considered the resolution at the request of a resident, who is a member of the group.
The resolution became effective immediately as soon as it was approved by the council with a unanimous vote in early August.
Perry said the resolution applies to magazines and reading material as well as videos or other things that children may see. There is no definition of what constitutes the inappropriate material that is discouraged by the resolution, but Perry said each business can decide for itself.
"Everybody has a different standard of what is inappropriate," Perry said. "Some things are clearly inappropriate, then there's the gray zone. I'm sure someone would think someone in a swimsuit would be inappropriate, and another person wouldn't. It's a difficult thing to address in a precise way."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com