Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

DUNCANVILLE (CBS 11 News) ― It's been a secret in the suburbs for years.

A house in Duncanville that holds large private parties for swingers is now gaining unwanted attention. Swingers are single people or couples who are open minded about their sexual partners.

"We have friends over for private parties," said the organizer, Jim Turlock.

The City of Duncanville wants to crack down on the parties. So far, the city has been powerless to stop the parties at the house on Cedar Ridge Drive. But Tuesday night, the city council will consider a different tactic.

People gather at the house every Friday and Saturday night. As many as 200 people showed up for a Halloween party. So many people attend the parties that the organizers have a man directing traffic and parking.

Organizers say the Cherry Pit is their own private club. Their Web site offers photos, giving a tour of where they meet.

The owner says the sex is consensual and optional. "They are people who are open-minded… [They] may not be having sex with other people… That's not what swingers are about," said another organizer, Julie Norris. "Some are voyeurs, some are exhibitionists."

We asked Turlock what he would say to someone who accused him of having wild sex parties in his house and said it wasn't right. "If that's my belief, and that's what I want to do, and if it's not outside the law, then those are my rights," he answered.

Turlock and Norris have held the parties at the Cherry Pit for years at a 3,400 square foot house in the residential neighborhood of the Hills of Duncanville.

Frank Wood's house overlooks the Cherry Pit, and he's complained to the city for years.

"I was shocked. I thought you had to be on Harry Hines to have something like this, not next door," said Wood. "When I bought my house, I didn't think I'd be living next to a massage parlor and brothel."

Turlock insists no one exchanges money for sex. "I don't run a brothel," said Turlock. "I don't run prostitution."

But on their Web site, he and Norris ask for donations to cover dinner and other costs for the parties.

"Those that can donate, donate. Those that can't, don't," said Turlock. "We've never required anyone to donate. We've never turned anyone away for not donating."

Because they only ask for donations, the City of Duncanville said the Cherry Pit isn't regulated by its sexually oriented business ordinances. Police say they haven't found anything illegal. But the city has had to issue code enforcement citations and fines.

Detective Brett Beene of the Duncanville police department said, "The complaints have ranged from your typical traffic congestion type complaints to the just neighborhood nuisance type complaints."

After Wood said he complained, the city put up no-parking signs in front of his house and the Cherry Pit. But that hasn't kept visitors away.

The Duncanville City Council is set to vote on an ordinance that would declare the Cherry Pit and other clubs like it illegal and a public nuisance.

The city said the problem is the Cherry Pit promotes the activity on its Web site. If the new ordinance passes, when the city finds a sex club is advertised or promoted, then officials will have a system in place to shut it down.

The city attorney said the city won't look for sex clubs, but if they receive complaints, the city will investigate.

Turlock and Norris vow they'll fight any action. "We're not flaunting it in front of anyone. I don't put a sign up in front of my house that says, 'Cherry Pit… Stop here.' I don't wear a t-shirt that says, 'Ask me about the Cherry Pit,'" said Norris.

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