(a) Within five days of receipt of an application for an adult entertainment business license, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall request that the Police Chief investigate the information provided in the application concerning the criminal background of the applicant(s) and that the Police Chief shall transmit the results of his/her investigation in writing to the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee within five days of the completion of his/her investigation.
(b) Within five days of receipt of an application for an adult entertainment business license, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall notify the City of Parma Fire Chief, the Building Commissioner, and, where application has been made for an adult cabaret or any adult entertainment business having video booths or viewing booths the Cuyahoga County Department of Health, of such application. In making such notification, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall request that the Fire Chief, Building Commissioner, and when applicable the Cuyahoga County Department of Health, promptly inspect the premises for which the adult entertainment business license is sought to assess compliance with the regulations under their respective jurisdictions.
(c) The Fire Chief shall provide to the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee within ten days of receipt of notice of the application a written certification of whether the premises are in compliance with the City of Parma Fire Regulations.
(d) The Building Commissioner shall provide to the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee within ten days of receipt of notice of the application a written certification of whether the premises are in compliance with the City Zoning Code, the City Property Maintenance Code, and the provisions of this chapter related to physical characteristics of the premises, and whether the City has received notice from any state or county agency of the premises being in violation of any applicable state building or property codes.
(e) Within 21 days after receipt of a completed adult entertainment business license application, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall approve or deny the issuance of a license. The Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall approve the issuance of a license to an applicant unless he/she determines that one or more of the following findings is true:
(1) An applicant who is a natural person is under 18 years of age.
(2) An applicant has failed to provide all information and documents required for issuance of the license as requested on the application form, or has provided information or documents as requested on the application that are insufficient on their face; provided, however, that no license shall be denied solely on the ground that an applicant has refused to disclose his/her Social Security number in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974. Pub. L. No. 93-579, § 7(a)(1).
(3) An applicant has, within the preceding 12 months, been denied an adult business license by any jurisdiction or has had a license to operate an adult entertainment business revoked by an jurisdiction.
(4) An applicant has been convicted of a specified criminal activity as defined in this chapter.
(5) The proposed adult entertainment business would violate or fail to be in compliance with any provisions of this chapter, the City Zoning Code, the City Property Maintenance Code, or state statute or regulation.
(6) The application and investigation fee required by this chapter has not been paid.
(7) An applicant is in violation of or in not in compliance with any provision of this chapter, except as provided in division (f)(1) of this section.
(f) If the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee determines that one or both of the following findings is true, the license issued pursuant to division (e) of this section shall contain a requirement that the licensee correct all deficiencies specified within 120 days of the date the license is issued:
(1) The results of inspections of the premises by the Building Commissioner, the Fire Chief or his/her designee or, where appropriate the Cuyahoga County Department of Health, indicate that the premises are not in compliance with applicable laws and regulations under their respective jurisdictions.
(2) An applicant is overdue in payment to the City of taxes, fees, fines, or penalties assessed against or imposed upon him/her in relation to any business, which are not the subject of a pending appeal or other legal challenge.
(g) If the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee determines that no other grounds for denial of a license exist under division (e) of this section, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall not delay approval of the application past the end of the 21-day period provided in this section solely because the Fire Chief or the Cuyahoga County Department of Health has not provided the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee with the complete results of his/her inspection of the premises; the complete results of the Building Commissioner's inspection of the premises are not available; and/or the Police Chief has not completed his/her investigation of the criminal background of the applicant(s). If, after approving the issuance of a license, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee receives information from the Police Chiefs investigation, which he/she determines constitutes grounds for denial of a license under division (e) of this section, then the adult entertainment business license issued pursuant to this division (g) shall be immediately revoked. If after approving the issuance of a license, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee receives information concerning the Fire Chief's, the Building Commissioner's, or where appropriate the Cuyahoga County Department of Health's, inspections, which the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee determines constitutes grounds for the issuance of a license subject to a requirement to correct deficiencies under division (f) of this section, then a requirement shall be added to the terms of the adult entertainment business license issued pursuant to this division (g) to correct all deficiencies noted within 120 days of the date such requirement is added.
(h) An adult entertainment business license shall state on its face the name of the applicant, the expiration date, and the address of the licensed adult entertainment business. All adult entertainment business licenses shall be posted in a conspicuous place at or near the entrance to the business so that they may be easily read at any time.
(i) The Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall advise the applicant in writing within three days of the reasons for any license denial. If the City finds, subsequent to denial, that the basis for the denial of the license has been corrected or abated, the applicant may reapply.
(Ord. 399-04. Passed 2-7-05.)