In order to respond to the community’s complaint about Cupid’s, which sells adult DVDs, sex toys and novelties, Sacramento County officials held a meeting for angry local residents right before Christmas, the Sacramento Bee reported. None of the store’s three owners attended the meeting.
Responding to the group’s outcry against its business, Cupid’s co-owner Phillip Angeles said he would separately store “items of concern” from the store’s inventory as a means to appease the group.
Carl Simpson, Sacramento County’s principal code enforcement officer, told the Bee that the store doesn’t even qualify as an adult business under the law because less than 25 percent of Cupid’s floor space is used for adult merchandise.
Orangevale residents’ main complaint is that the store operates just 600 feet away from an elementary school and daycare center. Additionally, they are concerned about the allegedly unsavory customers an adult business might attract into town.
“The location is unacceptable,” town resident Kathleen Parikka told the Bee. “We want to know why they are there, and we are worried about the safety of our children.”
Angeles said store managers diligently check photo ID’s of every customer coming into the store to make sure they are over 18. Angeles also pointed out that nearby convenience stores sell similar products where there are no such age restrictions in place.
“All the people going to this meeting have never been inside our store,” Angeles said. “We are trying to accommodate them but at the same time, we are trying to run a business here. We follow all the rules. Everybody has a right to open a business. That is why we are in America.”
