OGDEN — Before the Ogden City Council changes an ordinance that could force two sexually oriented businesses to relocate, it wants to get some input from the public.
On Oct. 27, the council will accept public comments on proposed changes to the city's sexually oriented business ordinance.
Two of the proposed changes update city code to reflect relatively recent changes in land uses near two of the city's three active establishments with live dancing.
Sexually oriented businesses are supposed to be located a certain distance away from parks, and the ordinance would clarify that the Ogden River Parkway Trail is a park. The trail runs near Northern Exposure, 1847 Wall Ave. The strip club also is too close to a residential zone.
Sexually oriented businesses also are supposed to be located a certain distance away from the Ogden Mall, which no longer exists. It's now The Junction, which means the Lighthouse Lounge, one of Utah's oldest cabarets, located in the 300 block of 24th Street, is too close. It's also located too close to a church.
However, because both establishments have been nonconforming for nine years, city officials are requesting a striking change in the city's ordinance.
State law dictates that nonconforming businesses can't operate that way indefinitely. So cities must come up with a fair way for the businesses to move.
If approved, the ordinance would allow business owners up to three years to recoup costs for improvements made to the property.
The proposed change came as a surprise to John Chevalier, owner of the Lighthouse Lounge for the past six years, though the establishment has been in operation since 1958.
Chevalier told the City Council that no one in the city has talked to him about getting him to move off of 24th Street.
But he's been toying with the idea of turning the Lighthouse into a sports bar. Currently, the Lighthouse only serves beer. Chevalier said he hopes the city would find a way to help him move to another area of the city where the Lighthouse would be permitted. Those areas would be limited to manufacturing zones.
"There's 8 percent of (the) city (where) they could relocate and be legal," Montgomery said.
Chevalier said he doesn't believe the Lighthouse contributes to crime or problems along 24th Street.
"We've been a good neighbor," he said. "We've stayed low-key."
Chevalier said he plans to meet with city officials to learn more after receiving a copy of the proposed ordinance after Tuesday's council meeting.
"We'd love to stay (in our current location)," he said. "Changing would cost money."
Northern Exposure's owners didn't return a request for comment.
The third nonconforming cabaret, Bare Backs, is no longer operational.
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