Neighbors upset about
nearby sex shop
Night Dreams is moving into an existing building, so the
owner doesn't need the county's okay.
By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published January 10, 2007
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GOWERS CORNER - The housing boom isn't far away, but you
can still find plenty of cows in this part of central
Pasco. Traffic zips by on U.S. 41, but there are plenty
of large oaks and pastures.
And the county jail. And now, sex shops.
Neighbors are upset.
Night Dreams, a store specializing in
fetish and bondage gear, is about to open barely a
minute's drive south from State Road 52 along U.S. 41.
It joins Wanderlust Adult Novelties, 2
months old and 4 miles north on U.S. 41, just beyond the
Saginaw Ranch. Neighbors view this as the seamy
underbelly of development.
"I have a 7-year-old son," said Julie
Klieves. "The next two houses have babies on the way,
and they have an 8-year-old daughter. ... I don't like
it at all."
There are no signs at the building at
Ticino Lane, and its shades are always drawn. Night
Dreams won't officially open until June, a store
assistant said, but neighbors got wind of it last week.
"We're trying to find out more about it,
and we're taking a petition," said Candy Lester, who has
a 16-year-old daughter. "Mostly adult stores are in
industrial parks, and that's okay. But not where we have
kids."
But the law is not on Lester's side. Lee
Millard, Pasco's assistant zoning administrator, said
county law allows sexually oriented businesses to set up
in a commercial zones if all they do is sell or rent
videos, magazines, books or novelties. They cannot be
within 1,000 feet of a school, place of worship, day
care center or public park.
If the business is moving into an
existing building, as is the case with Night Dreams, the
owner doesn't even need a permit from the county.
If such establishments want to screen
videos or stage shows, they must move into an industrial
zone, Millard said.
Neighbors are complaining that school
buses stop to collect and drop kids off within walking
distance of Night Dreams, but the school district cannot
make the business move.
"We'll have to move the bus stop," said
assistant superintendent Ray Gadd. "We can't move
schools, but we can move the bus stop."
Night Dreams got its business license on
December 18, according to the tax collectors office.
It’s owner Brenda Long, did not reply to
a message for comment. County records show she and her
husband, Peter Abosida, paid 1.4 million in November for
the 1.5 acre property, formerly a furniture store.
Night Dreams has two other outlets, in
Maryland and Virginia, and even has a Web site,
www.nightdreams.com
.
Four miles north, Wanderlust is run by
Robert Gluck, founder of the Pussycat chain of adult
stores in Tarpon Springs, Largo and New Port Richey.
County records show it is owned by One Chance of Pasco,
a company belongs to William Charnock, a Spring Hill bar
owner and former attorney who in 1998 lost his license
to practice law after mishandling a client’s money.
But, apart from the products they sell,
the two establishments are not linked - at least,
according to Billie McManus, a clerk at Wanderlust.
Gluck was on vacation and unavailable
for an interview on Tuesday, McManus said.
Neighbor Judy Williams wondered how one such business,
much less two, could survive in such a rural area.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere,” she said.
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Dreams wants your comments!
