'70 Acres of Porn Is Too Much,' City Councilman Declares As Vote Narrowly Nixes New District

April 8, 2013 - 3:02 PM

"Seventy acres of porn is too much," Troy city, New York Councilman Rodney Wiltshire declared before the council narrowly voted down creating a 70 acre adult entertainment district along the Hudson River.

"Seventy acres of porno is too much. It'll be a ridiculous Red Light district. And, if you build it, they will come." said Councilman Rodney Wiltshire before last Thursday's vote.

"Again, it's just too big," Wiltshire repeated.

Just how big is "too big"? Well, RealEstateAgent.com says one acre is about the size of one football field. So, we're talking about, roughly, 70 football fields - and, how much porn could you squeeze into 70 football fields?

For that matter, if Wiltshire feels that seventy acres of porn is too much, what size porn district would he sign off on: 69 acres? Fifty acres? Would the porn district have gotten the one extra vote it needed if it'd been just a little bit smaller?

Wiltshire makes the case that it's the concentration of porn, not the porn industry's right to exist, that would cause a problem:

"There is a way we can accomplish our tasks and make sure that the 'classy' businesses that are allowed through their First Amendment rights to exist have a place to go through our comprehensive plan, through our zoning."

"Pigeon-holing all these businesses into one spot," Wiltshire said, would send the message to the neighborhoods in the new porn district that "You're not good enough, so you get this."

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