Politicians weigh in on Hustler Hollywood opening

By Gerry May

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    SHREVEPORT, Louisiana (KTBS) — It’s been scorned by the people and local politicians alike. It’s even the target of an ongoing lawsuit from the City of Shreveport.

But after months of controversy, the Hustler Hollywood is now open in a former IHOP near I-20 and Pines Road.

Despite that court case, which has a hearing set for Monday, the store got its certificate of occupancy. A city spokeswoman says that’s because the store is now in compliance with the law.

The store can operate without a special use permit as long as its inventory of sexually explicit materials isn’t more than 20 percent.

There weren’t any customers when we went by at noon. But we’re told they had a busy opening night on Tuesday.

We weren’t allowed to record video inside. But we saw that the store offers mostly lingerie. Some adult novelties displayed in a back room.

The candidates for Shreveport mayor have some strong words against the store though.

Democrat Greg Tarver said in a statement, in part, “If elected, my administration will do everything within our power to close the store and to protect the sanctity of our neighborhoods. I believe the current ordinance on Sexually Oriented Businesses may need to be reviewed and

updated.”

His Republican opponent, Tom Arceneaux, told KTBS, “I would do everything within legal bounds to close it. The city has an ordinance on sexually oriented businesses and it has to be enforced to keep smut out.”

The candidates in the city council runoff in the district where the store is located also sounded off.

“The Hustler Club shows where we need to look into the MPC books, look and see what needs to be updated as far as codes with the UDC,” said Democrat Ursula Bowman, who hopes to succeed her term limited husband, Jerry, in District G.

“We need to make sure we know what is coming to our district.” she added.

Her opponent, fellow Democrat Derrick Henderson, who led a petition drive against the store, agrees that procedures need to change.

“The only businesses that come automatically before the city council for a vote are businesses that are selling or serving alcohol. At least we could change the ordinance to include different kinds of businesses — sexually oriented businesses, businesses maybe that’s going to sell drug paraphernalia, those kinds of things,” Henderson said.

The Metropolitan Planning Commission has said Hustler Hollywood snuck through the application process under the name HH Retail.

A hearing in the ongoing lawsuit against the store is set for Monday. But the Perkins administration declined comment on the pending litigation.

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