DEKALB COUNTY, GA — The DeKalb County Commission has approved changes to codes and regulations that clear the way for a moratorium on new adult business applications to end next month.

The moratorium has been in place since last fall and is set to expire Sept. 3.

“Given the previous two votes, those items will go into immediate effect and the current moratorium will expire on September 3, so the staff recommendation is for a withdrawal,” a staff member with the clerk’s office said.

Under the updated rules, adult toy stores will be limited to industrial districts. The changes also include restrictions governing location, lighting and loitering.

One provision establishes a 150-foot separation between locations selling sexual devices and residentially zoned property.

“It maintains the county’s existing 1,000 foot separation requirement from residential zoning, school zonings, churches, parks, libraries,” a staff member said.

The changes follow pushback over a proposed Tokyo Valentino on Lawrenceville Highway, which led to the moratorium on adult stores.

County resident Steven Benny criticized the changes, questioning why similar concerns were not raised in other parts of DeKalb County.

“Where was all this concern when these sex shops were setting up in South Dekalb, or in Clarkston, or in Stone Mountain?” Benny said.

“When the rich people decide they don’t want a sex shop, all of a sudden a new ordinance is written. Disgusting!” Benny said.

Once the moratorium expires, applicants seeking to open new adult businesses will still have to go through an approval process.

WSB Radio’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story.