Doc Stone property owners plan to take Pheromoans' bedroom merchandise to the courtroom.

By MEGHANN COTTER

Date published: 10/29/2006

By MEGHANN COTTER

Two Garrisonville property owners want to restrain a neighboring adult business--and not with fuzzy handcuffs.

The Silver Cos. and Rappahannock Goodwill Industries plan to take Pheromoans to court because the owners refuse to close the door on their erotic collection of bedroom merchandise.

The store bills itself as a lingerie boutique in its lease of the Doc Stone Commons building. But a covenant on the retail center suggests the battery-operated sex toys and adult DVDs it also sells may put the shop in a category of banned businesses.

Sex shops and stores that sell pornographic materials are among 30 types of businesses that are not considered compatible with the marketplace, according to the covenant.

Silver Cos. officials approved that list when they built the center last year. The company still owns vacant land on the Staples side of Doc Stone Commons.

The covenant is a binding legal document that transfers with the property no matter how many times it is sold. Excluded activities also include flea markets, gambling facilities, firing ranges, abortion clinics, churches and auto repair shops .

Woody VanValkenburgh, president of Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, said the restrictions helped him decide to buy a Doc Stone building for Goodwill's North Stafford thrift shop. It now shares a parking lot with Pheromoans.

"Our store is vital to the work we do, and we need to protect that asset," he said.

He worries the adults-only business will discourage customer traffic to the Goodwill store.

"What you are looking for in a shopping center is a family-oriented, mom-and-pop atmosphere," he said. "But maybe mom and pop would be a little reluctant if they saw that kind of store."

Pheromoans sits between a women's gym and a marble and granite business. Stafford residents previously complained about it because it is also close to the Perry Farms subdivision and Anne E. Moncure Elementary School.

Pheromoans' owners signed a lease on the building after Tren Construction bought it in September 2005, but before Mija Romer of Lorton took ownership in December.

Tren Construction did not return phone calls for this story. Pheromoans' owners and Romer declined to speak on the record because of the pending legal issues.

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Date published: 10/29/2006