Newport may face nudity ordinance

By Brenda Seekins, Of the NEWS Staff -- NEWPORT - The controversy surrounding a woman who likes to mow the lawn topless may wind up being settled by voters.

Mary Thompson says she wants to ensure the safety and innocence of Newport children, especially her 4-year-old grandson.

Last week, Thompson filed a complaint with the Newport Police Department when she saw her next-door neighbor's adult daughter mowing the lawn topless. Police investigated the issue as public indecency, only to learn it was not against the law.

Days later, Newport selectmen were informed of the complaint and were asked by the town manager if an ordinance governing nudity should be enacted. The selectmen's answer was an emphatic "no."

The incident made Newport known across the country as the town with the topless lawn mower. Media outlets from Georgia to the Midwest called the town office for details.

Early on Monday, the issue took a new twist. First, Thompson initiated a petition drive to create a local ban on baring breasts in view of the public.

A few hours later, Shirley Davis, who says her daughter has a right to seek a tan without lines while cutting the grass, initiated a petition drive to prevent the town from prohibiting nudity on private property.

"There are laws against child abuse, why not nudity?" Thompson said Monday morning. "I'm worried about the health and development of children exposed to this. What about the children on the school bus? Would you want your child coming home to say, 'Guess what I saw on the bus today?"'

If people want to sunbathe in the nude on their property, Thompson believes they should put up a fence at least 8 feet high.

Davis' house on Martin Stream Road has a hedge around much of the yard, but it is sparse and has gaps. Davis points out that her daughter has been mowing the lawn topless for three years without neighbors complaining.

Thompson said this was the first year she reported the offense because it was the first time she witnessed it personally.

On another occasion, Thompson said her daughter observed a car drive into the ditch when the driver caught sight of the topless woman on the riding lawn mower. Thompson believes it is only a matter of time before a driver or pedestrian is injured trying to get a glimpse of the lawn-mower operator.

Davis has four daughters and has declined to identify which one does the mowing.

"We're all proud of our bodies, but we keep it to ourselves. What about common courtesy or morals?" Davis asked.

Thompson said there is also a young child living on the other side of Shirley Davis' house.

"I'm not doing this just for one child. I'm doing it for everybody," Thompson said of her plans for the petition drive.

Both women need 125 signatures to take their petitions to the selectmen. They are willing to have a public hearing before letting voters decide whether an ordinance should be formulated. The next selectmen's meeting is scheduled for Aug. 19.

The dueling petitions are the latest salvo in a lively disagreement between the two neighbors.

Thompson's complaint to authorities about the nudity was followed by Davis renewing a longtime battle to get code enforcement and animal control to uphold the laws in the neighborhood. She believes Thompson should be cited for having an unlicensed junkyard, allowing an unlicensed dog to run at large and possibly for a faulty septic system. Davis believes several homes on the road have substandard or failing septic systems.

"They [town officials] are not doing their job," Davis said, citing up to nine unregistered cars on Thompson's property, as well as barking dogs in the neighborhood.

Thompson denied her property was overrun with junk cars and that her septic system had failed.

Thompson has lived on Martin Stream Road for 14 years, she said. Davis said her family moved next door in 1988. The women were neighborly for a while, Davis said. Over time, Davis said Thompson had a habit of borrowing things and not repaying the debt in any way.

"This [topless lawn mowing] isn't a big deal. She's just made a stupid issue of it," Davis said. She wondered how many people sunbathe on their own property nude or partially nude, and what a ban on bare breasts would do to that choice.

"If nothing else, I got her to license her dog," Davis said with obvious satisfaction.

While Thompson was inquiring about the requirements for the petition at the Newport Town Office, she said she licensed her dog to eliminate one of Davis' complaints.