Athens City Council members must have a lot of free time on their hands. That is the best available explanation for last week's council meeting, where they approved some absurdly unnecessary regulations for sexually oriented businesses.
The people of Athens should be outraged with this waste of council's time. One mention of a possible strip club sent the members into a tailspin, and the result is a set of rules that is laughable at best. Locations for sexually oriented businesses will be limited to one space by Holzer Clinic and one by Days Inn. Surfaces cannot be constructed of porous materials. Patrons and topless employees must maintain a particular distance. Council is even concerned about establishments' cleaning schedules.
It cannot be stressed enough: City Council should let the market regulate itself. Allow sexually based businesses to open. If people don't want these businesses, then council's constituents will not patronize them. Then the businesses will close. This is a simple concept, but apparently, it is far over the heads of the Athens City Council.
Council members need to stop these frivolous discussions. In endorsement interviews with The Post's Editorial Board in November, the candidates who are today's council members discussed solutions to problems like untimely boil order alerts, lack of parking, driver/cyclist/pedestrian safety, Athens' deteriorating infrastructure and improving overall city efficiency.-
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Athens City Council members should focus on the reasons they were elected
