Sundance mayor stands by permit for adult novelty store

SUNDANCE — Mayor Paul Brooks last week addressed complaints from the public about a peddler permit that allowed an adult novelty store to set up a stand in the back room of the Dime Horseshoe Bar during Wyoming Wednesday. 

Brooks said during last week’s meeting that complaining parties have claimed children could be exposed to the wares being sold at this stand. 

However, he said, these concerns do not appear to be valid. 

“I’ve talked to folks that are in the Dime and they don’t see children in the Dime, so I wonder how this thing all blew up,” said Brooks. 

The mayor said the issue does not merit the amount of attention it has received. 

“It’s one afternoon in the course of a year,” Brooks said, pointing out that it’s not actually certain the vendor will return next year as they may not be able to sell enough product to bikers, who have limited carrying capacity on their vehicles.

“This has been a contentious issue in this community. Let’s not dismiss it, but the fact of the matter is I have a little problem,” Brooks continued. 

He compared the issue to a recent incident involving text messages sent to the community that spoke against the Crook County School District’s plans to introduce a recreation mill levy. 

“[The text message] was blatantly incorrect, and when people tell me there are kids in that bar and I do my research and we don’t find kids in that bar, I feel somewhat annoyed that people are trying to deceive me,” he said. 

Responding to Trevor Keyworth, who said it is in violation of the city’s ordinance to allow an adult novelty store in the downtown, City Attorney Mark Hughes said, “No it’s not.” 

“That is not correct, and what Mark Koep said in his letter is totally false,” he said. 

Hughes was referring to a letter sent to the city in which Koep states the permit is not valid because it skips required steps, including that a public hearing must be held by the planning commission and council; that there must be a recorded motion and roll-call vote because “an informal instruction to the clerk is not enough”; and that Wyoming statutes prohibit the promotion of obscenity within a bar. 

“He cited a statute that said you’re not supposed to have these kinds of things, [but] the statute that he cited had been repealed for seven or eight years. He didn’t know what the hell he was talking about,” Hughes said. 

When Keyworth commented that the zoning ordinance says a business of this nature can only be allowed in the industrial zone, Hughes said this was also not correct, because, “It’s up to the council to decide.” 

In addition, the permit was approved under the council’s current process, said Brooks, in which it goes through town hall for the sake of expediency. 

“We issue peddler permits for people that sell food, we issue peddler permits for people that sell trinkets and everything else, and we handle it that way instead of having a meeting,” he said. 

Brooks said he was going to stand by the decision to approve the peddler permit. 

“If it’s an error, it’s an error on me, and to those people who are offended, I sincerely apologize,” he said. 

However, he said, if the city is to consider complaints such as that there are children present near an adult novelty stand, the person making those claims needs to be able to substantiate them.

This story was published on August 14, 2025.