Studies conducted by the Minnesota Attorney General and the Texas City Attorneys’ Association, as well as the cities of St. Paul, Alexandria, and Rochester, Minnesota; Indianapolis, Indiana; Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; St. Croix County, Wisconsin; Adams County and the City of Denver, Colorado, have examined the impact that adult establishments have on their respective communities. These studies concluded that adult establishments have an adverse impact on surrounding neighborhoods. Those impacts include increased crime rates, lower property values, increased transiency, neighborhood blight and potential health risks. The City Council of the City of Center City is relying on the studies, many of which were conducted in larger cities, recognizing that the same or similar adverse impacts could occur in a small city such as the City of Center City. Based on these studies, the City Council makes the following findings regarding the need to regulate adult establishments:
(A) The public health, safety, morals, and general welfare will be promoted by the city adopting regulations governing adult establishments.
(B) Adult establishments have adverse secondary impacts of the types set forth above.
(C) The adverse impacts caused by adult establishments tend to diminish if adult establishments are governed by location requirements, licensing requirements, and health requirements.
(D) It is not the intent to prohibit adult establishments from having a reasonable opportunity to locate in the city.
(E) Many members of the public perceive areas within which adult establishments are located as less safe than other areas that do not have such uses.
(F) A reasonable licensing procedure is an appropriate mechanism to place the burden of reasonable regulation on the owners and the operators of the adult establishment. A licensing procedure will place an incentive on the operators to see that the adult establishment is run in a manner consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of its patrons and employees, as well as the citizens of the city. 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.
(G) The fact that an applicant for an adult use license has been convicted of a sexually-related crime leads to the rational assumption that the applicant may engage in that conduct in contravention of this chapter.
(H) The barring of individuals with sexually-related criminal convictions from the management of adult establishments for a period of years serves as a deterrent to and prevents conduct which may lead to the transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases.
(I) The general health, safety, and welfare of the community is promoted by prohibiting nudity in adult establishments. This prohibition is based on concerns of potential adverse effects such as prostitution, the transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases, exposure to minors, obscenity and unsanitary conditions in public places.
(J) Small cities experience many of the same adverse impacts of adult establishments present in larger communities.
(Ord. 2012-09-04A, passed 9-4-2012)