(A) Purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to regulate sexually oriented businesses in order to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of the town, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses within the town. The provisions of this chapter have neither the purpose nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content or reasonable access to any communicative materials, including sexually oriented materials. Similarly, it is not the intent nor effect of this chapter to restrict or deny access by adults to sexually oriented materials protected by the First Amendment, or to deny access by the distributors and exhibitors of sexually oriented entertainment to their intended market. Neither is it the intent nor the effect of this chapter to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material.
(B) Findings. Based on evidence of the adverse secondary effects of adult uses in Albion and in other communities, presented in hearings and in reports made available to the Council, and on findings incorporated in the cases of Pap's A.M. v. City of Erie, 2000 U.S. LEXIS 2347 (Mar. 29, 2000); City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41 (1986), Young v. American Mini Theatres, 426 U.S. 50 (1976), and Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991), Schultz v. City of Cumberland, 26 F.Supp.2d 1128 (W.D. Wisc. 1998), aff'd in part, rzv'd in part, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 23773 (7th Cir. 2000); Berg v. Health & Hospital Corp., 865 F.2d 797 (1989); Chulchian v. City of Indianapolis, 633 F.3d 27 (7th Cir. 1980); DiMa Corp. v. Town of Hallie, 185 F.3d 823 (1999); Entertainment Concepts v. Maciejewski, 631 F.2d 497 (1980); Genusa v. City of Peoria, 619 F.2d 1203 (1980); Graff v. City of Chicago, 9 F.3d 1309 (1993); North Avenue Novelties, Inc. v. City of Chicago, 88 F.3d 441 (1996); and other cases; and on reports of secondary effects occurring in and around sexually oriented businesses, both in Albion and in other communities including, but not limited to, Phoenix, Arizona - 1984; Minneapolis, Minnesota-1980; Houston, Texas -1997; Indianapolis, Indiana - 1984; Amarillo, Texas; Garden Grove, California - 1991; Los Angeles, California - 1977; Whittier, California - 1978; Austin, Texas - 1986; Seattle, Washington - 1989; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - 1986; Cleveland, Ohio; and Dallas, Texas - 1997; St. Croix County, Wisconsin - 1993; Bellevue, Washington, - 1998; Newport News, Virginia - 1996; New York Times Square study - 1994; and also on findings from the Report of the Attorney General's Working Group On The Regulation Of Sexually Oriented Businesses, (June 6, 1989, State of Minnesota), the Council finds:
(1) Sexually oriented businesses lend themselves to ancillary unlawful and unhealthy activities that are presently uncontrolled by the unlicensed operators of the establishments. Further, there is presently no mechanism in this town to make the owners and operators of these establishments responsible for the activities that occur on their premises.
(2) Certain employees of unregulated sexually oriented businesses defined in this chapter as adult theatres and cabarets engage in higher incidence of certain types of illicit sexual behavior than employees of other establishments.
(3) Sexual acts, including masturbation, and oral and anal sex, occur at unregulated sexually oriented businesses, especially those which provide private or semi-private booths or cubicles for viewing films, videos, or live sex shows.
(4) Offering and providing such unregulated space encourages such activities, which creates unhealthy conditions.
(5) Persons frequent certain adult theatres, adult arcades, and other sexually oriented businesses for the purpose of engaging in sex within the premises of such sexually oriented businesses, or for the purpose of purchasing or selling illicit dings.
(6) Numerous communicable diseases may be spread by activities occurring in sexually oriented businesses, including, but not limited to, syphilis, gonorrhea, human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV-AIDS), genital herpes, hepatitis salmonella, campylobacter and shigella infections, chlamydial, myoplasmal and ureoplasmal infections, trichomoniasis and chancroid.
(7) According to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation, an estimated 650,000 to 900,000 Americans are infected with HIV. The number of new HIV infections occurring each year is now about 41,000. Men and women of all races are most likely to be infected by sexual contact.
(8) Relevant statistics revealed that a total of 5,419 AIDS cases had been reported in Indiana as of January 1, 1999. Indiana has required HIV case reporting since July of 1988 and shows 5,561 people currently living with HIV (3,109) or AIDS (2,452) in the state.
(9) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as one in three people with HIV do not know they are infected.
(10) The number of cases of early (less than one year) syphilis in the United States reported annually has risen, with 33,613 cases reported in 1982 and 45,200 through November of 1990.
(11) The number of cases of gonorrhea in the United States reported annually remains at a high level, with over 500,000 cases being reported in 1990.
(12) The Surgeon General of the United States in his report of October 22, 1986, has advised the American public that AIDS and HIV infection may be transmitted through sexual contact, intravenous drug abuse, exposure to infected blood and blood components, and from an infected mother to her newborn.
(13) According to the best scientific evidence, AIDS and HIV infection, as well as syphilis and gonorrhea, are principally transmitted by sexual acts. See, e.g. Findings of U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services.
(14) Sanitary conditions in some sexually oriented businesses are unhealthy, in part, because the activities conducted there are unhealthy, and, in part, because of the unregulated nature of the activities and the failure of the owners and the operators of the facilities to self-regulate those activities and maintain those facilities.
(15) Numerous studies and reports have determined that semen is found in the areas of sexually oriented businesses where persons view adult oriented films.
(16) The findings noted in subdivisions (1) through (15) raise substantial governmental concerns.
(17) Sexually oriented businesses have operational characteristics that should be reasonably regulated in order to protect those substantial governmental concerns.
(18) A reasonable licensing procedure is an appropriate mechanism to place the burden of that reasonable regulation on the owners and the operators of the sexually oriented businesses. Further, such a licensing procedure will place a heretofore nonexistent incentive on the operators to see that the sexually oriented business is run in a manner consistent with the health, safety and welfare of its patrons and employees, as well as the citizens of the town. It is appropriate to require reasonable assurances that the licensee is the actual operator of the sexually oriented business, fully in possession and control of the premises and activities occurring therein.
(19) Removal of doors on adult booths and requiring sufficient lighting on premises with adult booths advances a substantial governmental interest in curbing the illegal and unsanitary sexual activity occurring in adult theatres.
(20) Requiring licensees of sexually oriented businesses to keep information regarding current employees and certain past employees will help reduce the incidence of certain types of criminal behavior by facilitating the identification of potential witnesses or suspects and by preventing minors from working in such establishments.
(21) The disclosure of certain information by those persons ultimately responsible for the day-to- day operation and maintenance of the sexually oriented business, where such information is substantially related to the significant governmental interest in the operation of such uses, will aid in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
(22) It is desirable in the prevention of the spread of communicable diseases to obtain a limited amount of information regarding certain employees who may engage in the conduct which this chapter is designed to prevent or who are likely to be witnesses to such activity.
(23) The general welfare, health, morals and safety of the citizens of the town will be promoted by the enactment of this chapter.
(Ord. 2001-08, passed 6-26-01)