County takes stand on X-rated filming





Prompted by an influx of adult film productions in unincorporated areas, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an emergency ordinance on Tuesday that they hope will keep the industry away from the county.

Effective immediately, the law, which mirrors Los Angeles County’s voter-adopted Measure B, mandates the use of condoms or dental dams in every instance of sexual penetration and oral sex during the production of pornographic movies. All film locations must post a sign stating this requirement.

Though the language of the Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Ordinance says its goal is to protect adult actors from HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, Supervisor Linda Parks said the new law was also intended to curb the increase in film productions in Ventura County since Measure B was adopted in November.

“It was something that we needed to do,” said Parks, who introduced the ordinance along with Supervisor Kathy Long. “(Adult film shoots) were disrupting to neighborhoods, and the issue needed to be addressed.”

Parks said the law will help maintain the area’s family-oriented environment, which she feels was threatened by the rise in filming in unincorporated neighborhoods.

“These are neighborhoods with children and young families,” Parks told the Acorn last month. “The county needs to put up some roadblocks because we don’t want to see the porn industry moving out here.”

Following the passage of Measure B, many in the billion-dollara year industry began to seek filming locations outside the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, where the majority of the movies had been made.

As a result, film shoots began popping up in residential neighborhoods throughout Ventura County.

In March, when Art Monkeys Inc. began shooting a web production titled “Playboy Plus” inside a home on Kathleen Drive in unincorporated Newbury Park, a group of neighbors complained to Parks.

One of the most vocal of the group, Tim Gray, said the benefits of the ordinance are far-reaching.

“In the late ’80s and ’90s, my wife and I were volunteers for a ministry that helped people dying from AIDS,” he said. “I have no campaign against pornography, but we recognize its dangers as far as STDs are concerned.”

Hopeful that the ordinance will prompt adult filmmakers to look elsewhere for locations to shoot, Gray said the law reflects the wishes of the majority.

“I’m really glad it passed,” he said. “I’ve talked to 10 of my neighbors and none of them want this in our neighborhood.”

Unfortunately, some neighbors handled the situation less diplomatically than others.

Two weeks ago, the Kathleen Drive property where the Art Monkeys film was being shot was defaced with toilet paper, trash and rubber bands.

The perpetrator, possibly a disapproving neighbor, has not been identified.

Keith West, a nearby resident who said he was appalled by the act, cleaned up the mess.

“To me it’s like a cross-burning,” he said. “People can have a difference of opinions, but when it comes to damaging a man or woman’s property, that’s where I draw the line. . . .

“It’s really ironic,” West added. “The people that are opposed (to adult film productions in Ventura County) say they don’t want to lessen the integrity of the neighborhood, but by vandalizing people’s property, they are doing just that.”

The 48-year-old pilot said claims of neighbors hearing and seeing lewd acts are false.

“It’s a boldfaced lie,” he said. “We spoke to the two homeowners on each side of that house and they said they haven’t seen or heard anything. They’d have to be on the rooftop screaming for you to hear them.”

Although he is not a proponent of the pornography industry, West said politicians may be manipulating the law to impose their own moral agendas.

“This is like someone being against a gay married couple moving into the neighborhood,” he said. “It doesn’t affect any of us (and) what people do in the privacy of their own home is their business.”

Despite its mixed reviews, the new law will likely prompt adult-film makers to move their productions elsewhere, Parks said.

“The reason that they are filming here is because of Los Angeles County’s law. Now that Ventura County has the same law, it should have the same effect.”