BARING — “Fantasy 4 Play,” an adult book and video store, is expected to open here before the holidays. Located between Calais and Baileyville, the store will offer adult books, videos and novelty items.

Several weeks ago, the Calais Planning Board received a request for a change-of-use permit so the store could open on North Street, across from Burger King. The Planning Board was able to avoid that decision when the proprietors, Brian and Elena Eaton of Gardiner, decided to establish their store in Baring.

The Calais site proposed for the business was near private residences and Calais Elementary School, but without an ordinance the city had no regulatory authority. The Planning Board proposed a public hearing be held on the issue, and the city got some breathing space after the Eatons failed to ask that the hearing be held.

On Tuesday, hammers were swinging and saws were buzzing as construction workers at the former Black Rose Clothing Store on Route 1 in Baring built display shelves and bookcases.

Elena Eaton said she and her husband had received all the necessary licenses.

Brian Eaton acknowledged the outcry from opponents to the store in Calais and said it was their intention to locate the store outside a major city and away from residential areas and schools. He said they preferred to be centrally located between the major communities, and the Route 1 location offered them that opportunity.

The Eatons confirmed that no one under the age of 18 would be admitted to the store. They said that although the building had windows that face Route 1, those windows would be covered so that nothing inside the store could be viewed from the outside.

Earlier, Calais City Solicitor Francis Brown said the city could not ban adult bookstores, but it could enact an ordinance that would regulate their location in certain parts of the city and limit their numbers in a given area.

Last week, a local Baptist minister pressed the Calais City Council to begin work on a city ordinance that would regulate adult book and video stores in the event there was another effort to establish one in the city.

Planning Board member Ken Colson offered to prepare an ordinance based on models adopted by other Maine communities. The councilors agreed and asked Colson to present the proposed ordinance to Brown for review before it was brought back to the council.