It didn't take long for Newcastle to follow suit with a moratorium.

Less than a week after its neighbor approved a measure to put a moratorium in place for adult-themed businesses, Newcastle voted Monday, Aug. 25 to do the same.

Although no such business has made to move into the Twin Villages, at a Damariscotta meeting it was revealed that one such business had started looking in the area. Both Newcastle and Damariscotta lacked ordinances for adult entertainment, while towns such as Wiscasset and Edgecomb had ordinances in place.

The Damariscotta Board of Selectmen approved adding a moratorium to a special September meeting during its Aug. 20 meeting. The moratorium will allow Town Manager Matt Lutkus and staff to draft an ordinance for adult entertainment establishments.

The Newcastle Board decided to go in much the same direction, following the advice of Town Attorney Peter Drum.

“A moratorium is a sledgehammer; after it's put in place (no adult entertainment businesses) can open,” he said. “But, there have been changes made to the law ... after a year that moratorium is over. It's a short-term solution.”

While the moratorium is in place, work will be done to draft an ordinance.

“We'll be able to say 'This is a zone where we allow these businesses,'” Drum said. “It's also going to allow us to say that (the same businesses) are not allowed in other areas.”

Drum said having a zone were such businesses are allowed will save the town some hassles down the road: adult entertainment and themed businesses are protected under the first amendment, but towns are allowed to dictate where they can be.

The vote was 4-0 in favor of putting the issue on a September meeting agenda, with board member Ben Frey abstaining.