By Greg Ellison, Staff Writer

(Nov. 2, 2017) The Snow Hill Council agreed Monday that Annette Gibbons-Tarr can host private parties featuring adult intimacy items in commercially zoned locations.

Tarr, a sales consultant with the network marketing business Pure Romance, had asked the council three months ago whether she might be able to rent commercial space for her private parties as well.

Attorney Michael Farlow presented his client’s business strategy and corporate policies related to displaying content.

“It’s not necessarily an adult oriented business, but it is a business that sells some adult items,” Farlow said. “They’re doing it in a house party-style format.”

The more personal adult products offered by Pure Romance are primarily available as catalog items, Farlow said.

As for the rental space, Farlow said, “There were some issues with zoning code, which I think you’re addressing overall.”

Farlow also stressed the events would not be open to the public.

“This isn’t something that people on First Friday can just walk up the steps to go to,” he said. “She, or whoever is hosting it, has to actually invite these people to come along.”

Mayor Charlie Dorman said town officials were initially unclear if Gibbons-Tarr was intending to open a storefront business displaying adult oriented merchandise.

“We certainly don’t want to stop you from doing business, we just don’t want to have all that going on downtown … like the red-light district you see in Salisbury,” he said. “We can’t have that in our town.”

Farlow replied that the parent company mandates strict corporate guidelines related to retailing.

“I believe her corporate contract doesn’t allow her to have a storefront,” Farlow said.

In the meantime, Dorman said the town would examine zoning regulations to establish where adult oriented businesses can be located.