Folks Find Shop A Bit Too Sexy For Ocean City

Moshe Bitton, owner of Sex Style Adult Boutique, says, "There is nothing like this in this city, and I think people need stores like this in Ocean City." He owns another adult store in Salisbury, Md. (By James A. Parcell For The Washington Post)

OCEAN CITY -- The beach is still close to deserted, but this resort town knows summer is on its way. Workers are putting fresh coats of paint on motel signs. At boardwalk souvenir shops, clerks are stocking shelves with beach towels and T-shirts.

And on the main drag in the north end of town, a new store welcomes customers with a window display featuring particularly busty mannequins wearing particularly naughty lingerie.

Now open in Ocean City: Sex Style Adult Boutique.

It's the first sex shop in this popular summer playground that attracts more than 8 million visitors annually, many from the Washington region. Since opening last month, the shop has become the centerpiece of a struggle to protect Ocean City's image as a family-friendly beach resort.

The adults-only store selling pornographic DVDs, sex toys, lingerie and novelties is in the end unit of a strip shopping center, next to a pizza restaurant and family arcade. The unit's previous tenant sold hermit crabs and beach supplies. A miniature golf course is one parking lot over.

The mayor and City Council have faced a chorus of protests from residents and business owners who say the store does not belong next to family-oriented businesses -- or in Ocean City at all.

"It's like getting a cold bucket of ice water dropped on you when you drive by," said Sandy James, who owns a day spa in the shopping center.

Fearing more adult stores could open, the council passed an emergency moratorium on sexually oriented stores. The law temporarily bans sex shops from opening in Ocean City until city officials can draft zoning ordinances and restrictions on such businesses.

But Sex Style Adult Boutique was grandfathered in, because no laws regulating adult businesses existed.

"Although we couldn't do anything with that shop, we needed to make sure there's not one on every corner," City Council President Joseph M. Mitrecic said.

In the windows of Sex Style Adult Boutique, hanging above the mannequins, a neon sign in the window flashes OPEN. Sheets of what looks like aluminum foil block people from peeking into the store. On the front door, a sign warns customers: "STOP. Have Your ID ready. This store contains sexually oriented adult material."

And does it ever. Aisles and aisles of DVDs, categorized by genre. Oils and creams, lingerie and costumes. Toys of all shapes, sizes and colors.