Associated Press
ASHLAND, Ore. — The Ashland City Council will have the city attorney examine whether its ban on public nudity in parks and downtown can be expanded to include areas near schools.
The council’s 4-2 vote this week also directs city attorney Richard Appicello to research the legality of the current ordinance banning the display of genitals in those areas. There is no timetable for Appicello to report his findings to the council.
Oregon does not have any laws restricting nudity or have a crime of indecent exposure. Instead, people can be arrested for public indecency, but that requires sexual arousal.
Ashland adopted its partial nudity ban in 2004.
The issue re-emerged last year, when a woman dubbed “the naked lady” started bicycling around town wearing only a G-string. More complaints came in June, when a retired computer programmer visiting the city took nude strolls near an elementary school.
The Ashland Police Department got reports last week of a middle-aged man walking naked by Southern Oregon University.
Councilor Greg Lemhouse was among those voting for the motion. Lemhouse, who works for the Medford Police Department and has investigated cases where children were sexually assaulted, said people shouldn’t underestimate the impact of adults exposing themselves to children.
Councilors Eric Navickas and Carol Voisin opposed it. Before he won a seat on the City Council, Navickas joined others who protested in the buff after the 2004 partial ban was adopted.
Police Chief Terry Holderness said unless a person is displaying genitals downtown or in parks, there is little Ashland authorities can do except check to see if the person is aroused, on drugs or mentally disturbed.
“Ashland is actually more restrictive than many — if not most — cities in Oregon,” Holderness said.
But Ashland, located just north of the California state line, seems to get more nudists than other places. Chris Adams, a resident, told the council that Ashland’s partial ban has been misconstrued by exhibitionists to allow and even encourage nudity outside prohibited areas.
One woman recounted how her granddaughter was frightened by the naked, 66-year-old man walking near her elementary school in June. Ashland School District employee Lori Davis, who helped calm the girl, said the officer who arrived at the scene told them nothing could be done unless the man was visibly aroused.
The grandmother, who asked that her name not be used to protect her granddaughter’s privacy, read a letter to the council from the girl. The child wrote that seeing the man made her feel gross inside.
“Will you please don’t let him walk around naked because I wouldn’t want him to scare my little sisters,” the girl wrote.
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