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)