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A bar or tavern may be permitted in the high intensity mixed- use ("MU-2") district subject to the following conditions:
(a) Bars or taverns 2,000 square feet or less are allowed by right in the MU-2 district.
(b) A conditional use permit shall be required if the bar or tavern is larger than 2,000 square feet where alcohol is served or consumed.
(c) A bar or tavern that was lawfully in existence on the effective date of this section shall be granted nonconforming status. The building official shall maintain a register of all certificates of occupancy for bars and taverns made nonconforming after the effective date of this section. The building official shall determine maximum occupancy allowed where alcohol is served or consumed for nonconforming bars and taverns.
(d) Nonconforming status shall be retained when:
(1) Renewing a Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission (TABC) permit or license; or
(2) The sale or transfer of the business/premise requires a new TABC permit or license is required; or
(3) Maintaining, repairing or making alterations that do not exceed the occupancy allowed in the registry maintained by the building official.
(e) Nonconforming status shall terminate when:
(1) The TABC permit or license is terminated and a bona fide application for a new license or permit is not filed with TABC within two years of the prior permit or license expiration; or
(2) The use has been changed to a conforming use in the MU-2 district; or
(3) The use is altered or expanded such that the occupancy exceeds the maximum allowed in the registry maintained by the building official; or
(4) Restoration of a building destroyed by fire, explosion or other casualty, or act of God exceeds 75% of the building's reasonable value.
(Ord. 26445-09-2023, § 1, passed 9-12-2023, eff. 9-26-2023)
A shelter may be permitted in accordance with the use tables of Appendix A, Chapter 4, Articles 6 and 8, provided it shall not be located within a one-mile radius of existing shelters on East Lancaster Avenue or within one-mile of the Historic Southside Neighborhood (generally illustrated in Appendix B, Exhibit B.37). The board of adjustment shall have no authority to grant any variance to the distance limitation.
(Ord. 26652-12-2023, § 1, passed 12-12-2023, eff. 1-9-2024)
Editor’s note:
Ord. 16118, § 1, adopted Sept. 14, 2004, amended the code by consolidating the regulations of former § 23-18, which pertained to sexually oriented business offenses, and adding provisions designated as §§ 5.200 through 5.221 to Appendix A, Zoning. Former Art. 2, §§ 5.200 through 5.202, pertained to similar subject matter. See also the Code Comparative Table.
The following are provided as guidelines for the construction, interpretation and enforcement of this article.
(a) It is the purpose and intent of this article to regulate sexually oriented business establishments so as to protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the city and visitors thereto, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the concentration of sexually oriented businesses within the city.
(b) This article intends a balance of the right of the citizens of the city to maintain a decent moral society and, on the other hand, the right of individuals to express themselves freely in accordance with the guidelines of the Constitution of the United States and United States Supreme Court rulings pursuant thereto.
(c) This article is also intended to deter property uses and activities, which directly or indirectly, cause or would cause adverse secondary effects, including the deprecation of property values, on the stability of the immediate neighborhood surrounding the sexually oriented business.
(d) This article has neither the purpose nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content of any communicative materials, including sexually oriented materials.
(e) Similarly, it is not the purpose or intent of this article to restrict or deny lawful access by adults to sexually oriented materials or to deny access by the distributors and exhibitors of sexually oriented materials to their intended market.
(f) Similarly, it is not the purpose or intent of this article to impose judgment on the content or merits of any constitutionally protected form of speech or expression.
(g) It is the purpose of this article to generally charge operators of sexually oriented businesses to comply with a policy of “keep it indoors and under control” and to hold all operators first line answerability, directly or indirectly, for all uses of the premises and activities conducted thereon.
(Ord. 16118, § 1, passed 9-14-2004)
Sexually oriented businesses are classified as follows:
(a) Adult arcades;
(b) Adult bookstores or adult video stores;
(c) Adult cabarets;
(d) Adult motels;
(e) Adult motion picture theaters;
(f) Escort agencies;
(g) Adult model studios;
(h) Sexual encounter centers; and
(i) Any commercial venture whose operations include the providing, featuring or offering of employees or entertainment personnel who appear on the premises while in a state of nudity or simulated nudity and provide live performances, services or entertainment for customers.
(Ord. 16118, § 1, passed 9-14-2004; Ord. 20901-09-2013, § 1, passed 9-10-2013; eff. 9-25-2013)
(a) A person, including an operator of a sexually oriented business, commits an offense if he or she operates or permits the operation, or establishment of a sexually oriented business in a zoning district that does not expressly permit that type of use in said zoning district.
(b) In addition to being located in the proper zoning district, a person, including an operator, commits an offense if he or she causes or permits the operation or establishment of a sexually oriented business in or within 1,000 feet of an existing:
(1) Religious institution;
(2) School;
(3) Public park;
(4) A residential district;
(5) The downtown tourism area (generally illustrated in Appendix B, Exhibit B.3);
(6) The cultural district (generally illustrated in Appendix B, Exhibit B.7);
(7) The Fort Worth stockyards national register historic district (generally illustrated in Appendix B, Exhibit B.5);
(8) Other sexually oriented business within the city limits not located on I-30 or I-35; or
(9) Areas that currently are, or within the last ten years were, designated as neighborhood empowerment zones, tax increment finance districts and public improvement districts.
(c) In addition to being located in the proper zoning district, a person, including an operator, commits an offense if he or she causes or permits the operation or establishment of a sexually oriented business in or within 1,500 feet of an existing sexually oriented business located within the city limits on I-30 or I-35.
(d) (1) For the purpose of subsections (b) and (c) above, measurement of the distance shall be made in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest portion of the property line of an existing religious institution, school or sexually oriented business, or from the boundary line of a public park, residential district, designated historical/cultural district, or areas currently or within the last ten years were designated as neighborhood empowerment zones, tax increment finance districts and public improvement districts to the nearest property line of the property sought to be used as a sexually oriented business.
(2) If the sexually oriented business, school or religious institution occupies greater than 50% of the total building square footage on a developed site, parcel, tract or platted lot, then the measurement of the distance shall be made in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest portion of the property line.
(3) If the sexually oriented business, school or religious institution occupies less than 50% of the total building square footage on a developed site, parcel, tract or platted lot, then the measurement of the distance shall be made in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the closest wall.
(4) All other provisions of this section shall remain in full force and affect.
(e) Also for the purposes of subsection (b) above, measurement of the 1,000 foot distance shall also include religious institutions, schools, public parks, residential districts or other sexually oriented businesses, which are located in an adjacent city, township or rural land area and which are within the 1,000 foot distance of the nearest property line of the property sought to be used as a sexually oriented business within the City of Fort Worth.
(f) A certified survey prepared by a licensed surveyor or licensed engineer showing distance measurements in accordance with this section shall be submitted to the development services director as part of the application for the specialized certificate of occupancy. Any specialized certificate of occupancy issued for a building or facility used to conduct a sexually oriented business without submission of the required survey shall be null and void.
(g) A person commits an offense if he or she causes or permits the establishment or operation of more than one sexually oriented business on the same property, in the same building or structure, or any portion thereof.
(h) A sexually oriented business lawfully operating as a conforming use after December 21, 1993 is not rendered a nonconforming use by the subsequent location of a religious institution, school, public park, residential district or designated historical/cultural district within 1,000 feet of the sexually oriented business.
(i) A sexually oriented business lawfully operating as a conforming use prior to September 27, 2004 is not rendered a nonconforming use by the change in zoning districts that expressly permits sexually oriented business in said zoning district or by the increase in distance to 1,500 feet on I-35 or I-30. Such businesses shall be allowed to remodel and repair their current operations so long as the size of the building is not expanded and the remodel and repair occurs within the same footprint of the building at the time of adoption of this ordinance. All repairs and remodeling must be in compliance with the current city codes.
(Ord. 16118, § 1, passed 9-14-2004; Ord. 17522, § 6, passed 4-24-2007; Ord. 18130, § 1, passed 6-3-2008; Ord. 24030-02-2020, § 22, passed 2-4-2020)
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