Protecting their children from sexually explicit material was on the minds of mobile home park residents who gathered Tuesday to hear more about efforts to stop an adult bookstore from going up across the street.

At least 50 people came out to a meeting with Des Plaines City Attorney David Wiltse, who is spearheading an effort to block a proposed adult bookstore at 12521 W. Touhy Avenue, just east of Elmhurst Road.

Though sandwiched between Elk Grove Village and Des Plaines near O'Hare International Airport, the bookstore would actually be in Chicago.

A hearing on Wiltse's lawsuit to overturn a 1999 Chicago zoning board of appeals ruling in the bookstore's favor is scheduled to come before Cook County Circuit Court Friday.

Residents want to know what more they can do to stop the bookstore from opening in a building under construction across from the Touhy Mobile Home Park.

Many plan to attend the 11:30 a.m. hearing in Chicago's Daley Center.

Touhy Mobile Home Park resident Kathleen Crabtree said commercial ventures that sell sex demoralize people, particularly women.

"They look at them not as a human," she said. "I've got grandkids and I have no use for this."

Wiltse, who is representing the city and Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59, contends that Chicago's own zoning ordinance wouldn't allow an adult bookstore within 1,000 feet of a residential area.

But, because the mobile home parks are not zoned for residential uses, it creates a loophole. There are several nearby mobile home parks, including Oasis and Des Plaines Mobile Home Park.

There are hundreds of children that live in these parks, residents said.

Residents fear the bookstore would bring in more crime, traffic and expose children to inappropriate material.

"These kids are afraid they're going to lose part of their childhood, not being able to walk around when they want to," said Terry Nelson, secretary and treasurer of the Mobile Home Owners Association of Illinois.

Wiltse said he'll take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.