The President and Board of Trustees have made the following findings:
(A) It is uncontested that the village may regulate, through its zoning power, the location of sexually explicit businesses.
(B) Zoning, when used to preserve the character of the residential and commercial areas of the village, is perhaps the most essential function performed by the village;
(C) The village is predominately a single-family residential community with most of the total land area of the village zoned and used for residential, school, park, library and governmental purposes;
(D) The regulation of adult uses serves a substantial governmental interest, while allowing for reasonable alternative avenues of communication;
(E) The Supreme Court of the State of Illinois has judicially confirmed that the regulation of adult uses serves a valid governmental interest;
(F) The proposed regulations are not aimed at the content of adult entertainment, but at the secondary effects associated with it including, but not limited to:
(1) A negative impact on the real estate market where adult entertainment is offered;
(2) Urban blight as a result of the decrease in property values; and
(3) An increase in the need for police patrols and services.
(G) Sexually oriented businesses in the incorporated area of the Village of Peotone require special supervision from public safety and health agencies in order to protect and preserve the health, safety and welfare of the patrons of such businesses as well as citizens of the village.
(H) The corporate authorities and staff have reviewed studies concerning the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses in other cities including, but not limited to, "A Report on the Secondary Impacts of Adult Use Businesses in the City of Denver", Denver, Colorado (1998); "The Adult Business Study" conducted by the Town and Village of Ellicottville, Cattaraugus County, New York (1998); "A Digest of Research: The Evidence of Relationships Between Adult-Oriented Businesses and Community Crime and Disorder," compiled by the City of St. Marys, Georgia (1996); and the "Report of the Attorney General's Working Group on the Regulation of Sexually Oriented Businesses," Attorney General of Minnesota (1989). Each of the reviewed studies in turn summarizes studies from a number of other municipalities.
(I) From review of other cities studies and their own surveys and testimony from its citizens there is convincing documented evidence that sexually oriented businesses, because of their very nature, have a deleterious effect on both existing businesses around them and the surrounding residential areas adjacent to them, causing among other adverse secondary effects, increased crime and downgrading of property values.
(J) It is recognized that sexually oriented businesses, due to their nature, have serious objectionable operational characteristics, particularly when they are operating in close proximity to each other, thereby contributing to crime, lower property values, urban blight and downgrading of the quality of life in the adjacent area.
(K) The corporate authorities find that sexually oriented businesses are frequently used for unlawful sexual activities including prostitution and sexual liaison of casual nature.
(L) Increased crime and unhealthful conduct tend to accompany, concentrate around and be aggravated by sexually oriented businesses, including but not limited to prostitution, pandering, exposing minors to harmful materials, possession and distribution of obscene materials and child pornography, possession and sale of controlled substances and violent crimes against persons and property.
(M) Concern over sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS, is a legitimate health concern of the village which demands reasonable regulations of sexually oriented businesses in order to protect the health and well being of the citizens.
(N) The corporate authorities have considered, in part, each of the following matters:
(1) Areas within close walking distance of single and multiple family dwellings should be free of sexually oriented business uses;
(2) Areas where children could be expected to walk, patronize, or frequent should be free of sexually oriented business uses;
(3) Sexually oriented business uses should be located in areas of the village which are not in close proximity to residential uses, churches, parks, schools, or other public facilities;
(4) The image of the Village of Peotone as a pleasant and attractive place to reside will be adversely affected by the presence of sexually oriented business uses in close proximity to residential land uses, churches, parks, schools, and other public facilities;
(5) Sexually oriented business land use should be regulated by zoning to separate it from other dissimilar uses just as any other land use should be separated from dissimilar uses within Peotone;
(6) Residents and non-residents who use the Village of Peotone for shopping and other commercial needs, and utilize the public facilities, churches, parks, and schools of the village will move, shop elsewhere, or use public facilities, churches, parks, and schools elsewhere if sexually oriented business land uses are allowed to locate in close proximity to residential uses, churches, parks, schools, and other public facilities;
(7) Merchants in the commercial area of the village are concerned about the adverse impact and the character and quality of the village in the event that sexually oriented business land uses are located within close proximity to residential uses, churches, parks, schools, and other public facilities and that such locations will reduce retail trade to commercial uses in the vicinity, thus reducing property values and tax revenues to the village; and that such adverse affect on property values and business would cause the loss to some commercial districts within the village leading to deterioration of the commercial quality of the village; and
(8) No evidence has been presented to show that location of sexually oriented businesses within the village will improve the commercial viability or qualify of life of the community.
(O) Zoning, licensing and other police power regulations are legitimate reasonable means of accountability to insure the operators of sexually oriented businesses comply with reasonable regulations and are located in places that minimize the adverse secondary effects which naturally accompany the operation.
(P) The village recognizes the possible harmful effects on children and minors exposed to the effects of such businesses and the deterioration of respect for family values and the avoidance of such businesses which necessitate children walking through or visiting in the immediate neighborhood of such businesses.
(Q) There would be deterioration in the quality of businesses which chose to operate in and around such sexually oriented businesses.
(R) The desire to minimize and control these adverse secondary effects and thereby protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens, protect the citizens from increased crime, preserve the qualify of life, preserve the property values and the character of surrounding neighborhoods and businesses, deter the spread of urban blight and protect against the threat to health from the spread of communicable and social diseases.
(S) The corporate authorities have considered judicial decisions regarding local regulation of sexually oriented businesses, including the courts' discussions of the secondary effects of such businesses; including but not limited to City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc., 535 U.S. 425 (2002); City of Erie v. Pap's A.M., 529 U.S. 277 (2000); Barnes v. Glen Theatres, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991); Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc., 427 U.S. 50 (1976); Joelner v. Village of Washington Park, 2004 WL 1738721 (7th Cir. Aug. 4, 2004); R.V.S. L.L.C. v. City of Rockford,361 F.3d 402 (7th Cir. 2004); and Ben's Bar, Inc. v. Village of Somerset, 316 F.3d 702 (7th Cir. 2003).
(T) Locational criteria alone do not adequately protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of Peotone and thus certain requirements with respect to the ownership and operation of sexually oriented businesses are in the public interest.
(U) Consistent with limitations on the sale and consumption of alcohol and outside advertising limitations, restricted hours of operation will further prevent the adverse secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses.
(V) It is not the intent of this subchapter to suppress any speech activities protected by the First Amendment, but to enact content neutral legislation which addresses the adverse secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses.
(W) It is not the intent of the corporate authorities to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material, and the corporate authorities recognize that state law prohibits the distribution of obscene materials and expects and encourages state enforcement officials to enforce state obscenity statutes against such illegal activities in Peotone.
(Ord. 04-20, passed 9-7-04)