Supervisors looking in to restrict R-rated library rentals

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors asked its staff to prepare a study on a plan aimed at preventing minors from checking out R-rated DVDs and videos from county libraries.

Under the plan, parents would be asked to check a box on library card applications if they want to restrict their children’s access to such material.

Supervisor Bill Horn said he began receiving calls a month ago from “concerned parents’’ about the material, which is available for anyone to check out.

The Vista City Council has also received complaints, the supervisor said.

“If the kids can’t see this in the movie theater without their parents then we shouldn’t limit parents’ abilities to keep their children from viewing these films,’’ Horn said.

The supervisor, who represents a large portion of the North County, likened the restriction to Internet filters placed on library computers.

The item, which passed unanimously as part of the board’s consent calendar, calls for county staff to study costs and return with recommendations in two months.

In other business, the supervisors, also on consent, asked staff to come up with a way to take advantage of new state incentives to provide loans for homeowners who install solar energy panels.

The incentives are designed to reduce some of the up-front costs of solar installation. Homeowners would receive a 20-year loan in a program funded by the creation of special assessments.