Longview adult novelty store waits for license - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports

LONGVIEW (KYTX) - New information on the proposed adult store in Longview that's caused quite a bit controversy these past few weeks. A city ordinance says a business like the Venus adult store must be at least 1,000 feet away from people's homes, churches and schools.

Salvador's Garage and Towing is a business, but this home that you see here could be deciding the fate on whether or not a sexually oriented business will get the opportunity to open it's doors soon.
The owner of Salvador's lives next door to his business. He didn't want to speak on camera. But this property is extremely close to what could be 'Venus,' a store with adult novelties and movies.
 "At his point what we're looking at is whether or not the business that's in question meets the one thousand foot distant requirement."  
 Spokesman for the City of Longview Shawn Hara says city workers must measure to make sure the proposed site for Venus is more than 1,000 feet from the home.
   Business owner Robert Duggans who's waiting for his license to open Venus says he's confident he'll get his license based on his own measurements.
   But parents who live in the area say regardless of the distance, they don't want Venus to open.
 "There's a lot of kids around and to me that don't even make sense."    
   Neighbors say they never got a good, clear answer about what was going in this building in the first place.
"They asked questions and always got an evasive answer."
 Birne Wiley, is President of a neighboring Christian based business called Missionary Tech Team.
    He says whenever he asked about the type of business that was going into this building, he heard a vague description.
  "All that was indicated is that they were going to have a distribution center located there."
Venus is located in Longview's East Industrial Park that consist mainly of distribution companies and manufacturers and neighboring companies hope Venus doesn't meet Longview's Code of Ordinances...so they can keep it that way.
 The spokesman for the City of Longview says that there's really nothing that can be done like trying to petition or objecting during a city council meeting.
   If the business meets the regulation of the ordinance Venus will be open for business soon.