The Carbondale City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday that revised the definition of an adult entertainment facility to adult use restricting where that type of facility may be placed.

A request by an anonymous person whose type of business does not fall in the state’s definition of adult entertainment facility triggered the council to revise this ordinance.

City officials would not elaborate on who the person was or what type of facility was inquired about because the request was verbal. The council did say that the owner was looking at charging a private membership fee.

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The state defines an adult entertainment facility as a striptease club, pornographic movie theater, adult bookstore or adult video store.

The approved adult use definition prohibits an adult use facility from existing within 1,000 feet of a liquor establishment and within 500 feet of any residential zone. With these two additional location restrictions, only a portion of the city’s east side commercial area would be eligible for placement of an adult use facility.

The ordinance requires registration by owners and operators of adult use facilities, that would prohibit complete nudity by requiring minimal clothing or coverage of certain anatomical areas.

Operating regulations include hours of operation for adult use, and a 21-year-old entry and employment age. It also prohibits exterior signage that contains graphics or pictorial displays.

City attorney Paige Smith said the verbal request prompted the council to adopt the ordinance as soon as possible.

It’s something that just needed to be done. The inquiry just helped us get moving, Smith said. Months before the inquiry even came in, we’d already made a draft of the same ordinance we adopted (Tuesday) night.

Smith said the revision has been an issue with the City Council for the past two years.

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Unfortunately this ordinance has suddenly been seen as being created for a specific reason and actually that’s not true, Smith said. It was looked at two years ago.

Many municipalities have started to enact such an ordinance, and there has been many lawsuits on whether or not it would be unconstitutional and that has now been addressed.

Illinois law says that a municipality must allow this type of business someplace within the community. Municipalities have also been given the authority to limit the area in which adult stores can operate through zoning and other location restrictions.

Smith said the council was not expecting a proposal like this unless liquor would be served at the business.

We have regulated adult entertainment under our liquor code for many, many years, she said. But as far as somebody opening a business without serving liquor, that’s something that we hadn’t addressed other than specific basic provisions on nudity, and we just needed to get something more in tact for businesses that may come into town that may want to open these types of facilities.

Smith said no matter what someone may propose to the council regarding this issue, the city will be prepared.

It’s all constitutional, she said. We’ve written our ordinance in reference to those cases to be sure that if we did have any constitutional challenge we would be successful.