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McHenry County, IL Code of Ordinances
CHAPTER 5.32: ADULT BUSINESSES
Section
   5.32.010   Legislative purpose
   5.32.020   Definitions
   5.32.030   Commissioner, assistant commissioners, committee (commission)
   5.32.040   Powers and duties of commissioner & committee (commission)
   5.32.050   Adult business license
   5.32.060   License fee
   5.32.070   Issuance of an adult business license - procedure & application
   5.32.080   Persons/entities ineligible to receive license
   5.32.090   Processing initial application, renewal and investigation
   5.32.100   Standards for issuance or denial of license
   5.32.110   Inspections
   5.32.120   Display of license
   5.32.130   Suspension, revocation or non- renewal of license
   5.32.140   Violations and penalties
   5.32.150   Review under Administrative Review Act
   5.32.160   Severability clause
   5.32.170   Effective date
§ 5.32.010 LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE.
   A.   To the end that the health, safety and welfare of the People of the County of McHenry shall be safeguarded and protected; and, to more effectively enable the Board of McHenry County, Illinois the means to avert adverse impacts caused by secondary effects of adult businesses the following has been adopted by the County of McHenry.
   B.   This ordinance shall be liberally construed to effect the above goals and shall have neither the purpose nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content of any communicative materials, including sexually oriented materials. Similarly, it is not the intent or effect of the ordinance 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 effect of this ordinance to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material.
(Ord. O-9809-12-84, passed 9-15-1998)
§ 5.32.020 DEFINITIONS.
      1.   ADULT BUSINESS: Any establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade or business activity in a use such as, but not limited to the following: adult arcades, adult bookstores or adult video stores, adult cabarets, adult entertainment centers, adult hotels/motels, adult massage parlors, adult motion picture theaters (including adult mini-motion picture theaters), adult nightclubs, escort agencies, nude modeling studios, rap parlors, adult saunas, and sexual encounter centers where explicit sexual conduct is depicted and/or sexual activity is explicitly or implicitly encouraged or tolerated. (Refer to the McHenry County Zoning Ordinance, as amended, for definitions of specific adult businesses.)
      2.   ADULT BUSINESS EMPLOYEE: Any person who works, performs or exposes his/her specified anatomical areas in an establishment, irrespective of whether said person is paid a salary or wages by the owner or manager of the business, establishment, or premises.
      3.   ADULT BUSINESS LICENSE: A license issued for an adult business pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance.
      4.   ADULT BUSINESS MANAGER: Any person in charge or in direct control of the affairs of the adult business he/she is managing.
      5.   ADULT BUSINESS OPERATOR: Any person(s), whether said person(s) be an individual, partner, corporation, joint stock company, fiduciary, officer, director, stockholder, employee, or manager that conducts, maintains or owns any adult business.
      6.   ADULT BUSINESS OWNER, PERMIT HOLDER, OR PERMITTEE: For the purposes of this ordinance, “owner,” “permit holder,” or “permittee” shall mean any of the following:
         a.   the sole proprietor of an adult business: or
         b.   any general partner of a partnership which owns and operates an adult business: or
         c.   the owner of a controlling interest in a corporation which owns and operates an adult business: or
         d.   the person(s) designated by the officers of a corporation to be the permit holder for an adult business owned and operated by the corporation.
      7.   ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR: Any spirits, wine, beer, ale or other liquor, containing more than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume, which is capable of being consumed by a human being.
      8.   APPLICANT: The owner, or beneficial owner of the property and the adult business operator.
      9.   COMMISSION: The McHenry County Liquor and License Committee (McHenry County Liquor Control Commission).
      10.   COMMISSIONER: The Chairman of the McHenry County Board.
      11.   CONDITIONAL USE: A use which, because of its unique characteristics cannot be classified in any particular zoning district. All adult businesses require a Conditional Use Permit.
      12.   DAYS: Calendar days, unless otherwise specifically set forth in this ordinance.
      13.   ESTABLISHMENT: Establishment of an adult business includes any of the following:
         a.   the opening or commencement of any such business as a new business; or
         b.   the conversion of an existing business, whether or not an adult business, or any of the adult businesses defined herein; or
         c.   the addition of any of the adult businesses defined herein to any other existing adult business; or
         d.   the relocation of any such adult business.
      14.   LICENSED PREMISES: The place or location described in an adult business license where said business is authorized to operate. No sidewalks, streets, parking areas, public rights-of-way, or grounds adjacent to any such place or location shall be included within the licensed premises.
      15.   LICENSEE: Any person or entity that has been issued an adult business license pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance.
      16.   SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS: Means:
         a.   Human genitals and pubic region; or
         b.   Cleavage of the human buttocks; or
         c.   That portion of the human female breast encompassed within an area falling below the horizontal line one would have to draw to intersect a point immediately above the top of the areola (the colored ring around the nipple); this definition shall include the entire lower portion of the female breast, but shall not include any portion of the cleavage of the human female breast exhibited by a dress, blouse, shirt, leotard, bathing suit, or other wearing apparel, provided the areola is not so exposed; or
         d.   Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.
      17.   SPECIFIED CRIMINAL ACT: Any unlawful lewd, indecent, or immoral conduct, including specifically, but without limitation, any of the lewd, indecent, or immoral criminal acts specified in any of the following statutes:
         a.   Article II of the Illinois Criminal Code (sex offenses);
         b.   Section 26-4 of the Illinois Criminal Code, 720 ILCS 5/330 (unauthorized videotaping);
         c.   Section 33D-1 of the Illinois Criminal Code, 720 ILCS 5/330-1 (contributing to the criminal delinquency of a juvenile);
         d.   Obscene Phone Call Act, 720 ILCS 135/0.01 et seq.
         e.   Wrongs to Children Act, 720 ILCS 150/0.01 et seq.
         f.   Improper Supervision of Children Act, 720 ILCS 640/0.01 et seq.
         g.   Sale of Immoral Publications to Children Act, 720 ILCS 670/0.01 et seq.
         h.   Cannabis Control Act, 720 ILCS 550/1 et seq.
         i.   Illinois Controlled Substances Act, 720 ILCS 570/100 et seq.
      18.   UNDERAGE: Any person under eighteen (18) years of age, the legally minimum age at which one can purchase or view adults-only items.
(Ord. O-9809-12-84, passed 9-15-1998)
§ 5.32.030 COMMISSIONER, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS, COMMITTEE (COMMISSION).
   The Chairman of the McHenry County Board shall be the Commissioner in and for all areas outside corporate limits of any city, town or village and lying within the corporate limits of the County of McHenry, and he/she shall be assisted by five (5) members of the County Board who shall be designated as Assistant Commissioners. Assistant Commissioners shall assist the Commissioner in an exercise of powers and performance of his/her duties. The Commissioner and Assistant Commissioners shall constitute the McHenry County Liquor and License Committee (McHenry County Liquor Control Commission).
(Ord. O-9809-12-84, passed 9-15-1998)
§ 5.32.040 POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER & COMMITTEE (COMMISSION).
   As related to the provisions of this ordinance, the McHenry County Liquor and License Committee (McHenry County Liquor Control Commission) shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
   A.   Grant or deny applications for adult business licenses, and revoke, suspend licenses for violations of the ordinance and for cause.
   B.   Conduct or provide for such inspections of an adult business as shall be necessary to determine and ensure compliance with the provisions of this ordinance and other applicable provisions of law.
(Ord. O-9809-12-84, passed 9-15-1998)
§ 5.32.050 ADULT BUSINESS LICENSE.
   An applicant for the operation of an adult business must obtain an adult business license after obtaining the proper zoning for the subject property. No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation shall operate or manage an adult business without first having obtained a license as provided for herein. An adult business license shall be valid only for the exact location specified in the license.
(Ord. O-9809-12-84, passed 9-15-1998)
§ 5.32.060 LICENSE FEE.
   A.   The Commissioner shall have powers to grant an adult business license for a period beginning on the first (1st) day of May of any year and ending on the thirtieth (30th) day of April of the next year. The adult business license fee is $200 per year.
   B.   All licenses shall be issued for a specific location. The application for an adult business license shall be accompanied by payment in full by certified or cashier’s check or money order. No application shall be considered complete until the entire fee is paid in full. The license fee is nonrefundable and nontransferable.
   C.   All applicants shall be finger printed and photographed by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Police Department. Said photographs shall be placed in the Commission’s fifes.
(Ord. O-9809-12-84, passed 9-15-1998)
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