Skip to code content (skip section selection)
Compare to:
Reading Overview
Reading, PA Code of Ordinances
READING, PA CODE OF ORDINANCES
PREFACE
Chapter C HOME RULE CHARTER
Chapter 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter 5 ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
Chapter 14 AUTHORITIES
Chapter 23 BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS
Chapter 36 FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES
Chapter 51 INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
Chapter 62 PENSIONS
Chapter 70 PERSONNEL
Chapter 77 POLICE DEPARTMENT
Chapter 91 SALARIES AND COMPENSATION
Chapter 120 ALARM SYSTEMS
Chapter 127 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Chapter 141 ANIMALS
Chapter 166 CABLE TELEVISION
Chapter 173 COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY CODE
Chapter 180 CONSTRUCTION CODES
Chapter 185 CONVERSION THERAPY
Chapter 188 CURFEW
Chapter 201 ELECTRIC SERVICE
Chapter 212 FEES
Chapter 219 FIREARMS
Chapter 225 FIREWORKS
Chapter 231 FIRE INSURANCE PROCEEDS
Chapter 237 FIRE PREVENTION AND PROTECTION
Chapter 251 FOOD CODE
Chapter 272 GRAFFITI
Chapter 288 HEALTH AND SAFETY
Chapter 295 HISTORICAL AND CONSERVATION DISTRICTS
Chapter 302 HOUSE NUMBERING
Chapter 308 HOUSING
Chapter 317 INVASIVE PLANTS AND NOXIOUS WEEDS
Chapter 325 LAW ENFORCEMENT
Chapter 328 LEAD POISONING PREVENTION
Chapter 332 LIBRARY
Chapter 339 LICENSES AND PERMITS
Chapter 346 LITTER AND ADVERTISING MATERIAL
Chapter 353 LOITERING AND PANHANDLING
Chapter 364 MASSAGE THERAPISTS
Chapter 378 MUNICIPAL CLAIMS AND LIENS
Chapter 387 NOISE
Chapter 396 PARKS AND RECREATION
Chapter 403 PAWNBROKERS
Chapter 410 PEDDLING AND SOLICITING
Chapter 424 POLES
Chapter 431 PROPERTY SALES
Chapter 433 PUBLIC ART
Chapter 438 RAIN BARRELS
Chapter 442 RECORDS, PUBLIC ACCESS
Chapter 453 SALES
Chapter 460 SCRAP METAL DEALERS
Chapter 467 SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL
Chapter 473 SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES
Chapter 479 SIDEWALK CAFES
Chapter 485 SIGNS
Chapter 496 SOLID WASTE
Chapter 502 STORAGE FACILITIES
Chapter 505 STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
Chapter 508 STREETS AND SIDEWALKS
Chapter 515 SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 521 SUSTAINABILITY
Chapter 536 TAMPERING WITH PUBLIC PROPERTY
Chapter 540 TATTOO AND PIERCING ESTABLISHMENTS
Chapter 543 TAX ABATEMENTS
Chapter 546 TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM
Chapter 549 TAXATION
Chapter 555 TREES
Chapter 564 VEHICLE NUISANCES, STORAGE OF
Chapter 570 VEHICLE REPAIR SHOPS
Chapter 576 VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC
Chapter 583 VENDING MACHINES
Chapter 600 ZONING
Chapter A610 ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY
Chapter A611 BOND ISSUES AND LOANS
Chapter A612 FRANCHISE AND SERVICES
Chapter A613 GOVERNMENTAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
Chapter A614 PLAN APPROVAL
Chapter A615 PUBLIC PROPERTY
Chapter A616 SEWERS
Chapter A617 STREETS AND SIDEWALKS
Chapter A618 WATER
Chapter A619 ZONING; PRIOR ORDINANCES
Chapter DT DERIVATION TABLE
Chapter DL DISPOSITION LIST
Loading...
§ 473-111. Judicial review.
Within 14 days of a denial of an initial or renewal application by the Director and City Council, or suspension or revocation of a license by the Director, the applicant or licensee may seek prompt judicial review of such administrative action in any court of competent jurisdiction. Upon notification by summons of the filing of a complaint seeking judicial review of the City's administrative action, the City shall transmit the record of the administrative action to the court no later than five business days after receipt of said summons, and shall answer the complaint no later than 10 days after receipt of the summons. In addition, the City shall submit its response brief within 14 days of receipt of the petitioner's brief. The administrative action shall then be promptly reviewed by the court.
§ 473-112. No transfer of license.
   A.   A licensee shall not transfer his/her license to another, nor shall a licensee operate a sexually oriented business under the authority of a license at any place other than the address designated in the application and set forth in the operator's license.
   B.   An operator's license shall not be transferable from one location to another.
§ 473-113. Location restrictions for sexually oriented businesses.
   A.   A person commits a misdemeanor if that person operates or causes to be operated a sexually oriented business in any zoning district other than HM Heavy Manufacturing Districts, as defined and described in Chapter 600, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Reading. 1
   B.   A person commits an offense if the person operates or causes to be operated a sexually oriented business within 1,000 feet of:
      (1)   A church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or building which is used primarily for religious worship and related religious activities.
      (2)   A public or private educational facility including, but not limited to, child day- care facilities, nursery schools, preschools, kindergartens, elementary schools, private schools, intermediate schools, junior high schools, middle schools, high schools, vocational schools, secondary schools, continuation schools, special education schools, junior colleges, and universities; "school" includes the school grounds, but does not include facilities used primarily for another purpose and only incidentally as a school.
      (3)   A boundary of a residential district as defined in Chapter 600, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Reading.
      (4)   A public park or recreational area which has been designated for park or recreational activities including, but not limited to, a park, playground, nature trails, swimming pool, reservoir, athletic field, basketball or tennis courts, pedestrian/bicycle paths, wilderness areas, or other similar public land within the City which is under the control, operation, or management of the City park and recreation authorities.
      (5)   The property line of a lot devoted to a residential use as defined in Chapter 600, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Reading.
      (6)   An entertainment business which is oriented primarily towards children or family entertainment.
      (7)   Any premises licensed pursuant to the alcoholic beverage control regulations of the state.
   C.   A person commits a misdemeanor if that person causes or permits the operation, establishment, substantial enlargement, or transfer of ownership or control of a sexually oriented business within 1,000 feet of another sexually oriented business.
   D.   A person commits a misdemeanor if that person causes or permits the operation, establishment, or maintenance of more than one sexually oriented business in the same building, structure, or portion thereof, or the increase of floor area of any sexually oriented business in any building, structure, or portion thereof containing another sexually oriented business.
   E.   For the purpose of Subsection B of this section, measurement shall be made in a straight line, without regard to the intervening structures or objects, from the nearest portion of the building or structure used as the part of the premises where a sexually oriented business is conducted, to the nearest property line of the premises of a use listed in Subsection B. The presence of a City, County or other political subdivision boundary shall be irrelevant for purposes of calculating and applying the distance requirements of this section.
   F.   For purposes of Subsection C of this section, the distance between any two sexually oriented businesses shall be measured in a straight line, without regard to the intervening structures or objects or political boundaries, from the closest exterior wall of the structure in which each business is located.
1.   Editor's Note: Amended during codification (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Part 2).
§ 473-114. Nonconforming uses; amortization.
   A.   Any sexually oriented business (lawfully operating on the effective date of this chapter), that is in violation of § 473-113 shall be deemed a nonconforming use. The three existing businesses: Al's Diamond Cabaret, 1810 North 50th Street; The Second Story Lounge, 612 Franklin Street; and the Reading Adult Outlet, 316 Penn Street, shall be grandfathered for location only and will be permitted to operate in their current locations; however, all other provisions of this chapter apply and are enforceable. The nonconforming use will be permitted to continue, unless terminated for any reason or voluntarily discontinued for a period of 30 days or more. Such nonconforming uses shall not be increased, enlarged, extended, or altered except that the use may be changed to a conforming use. If two or more sexually oriented businesses are within 1,000 feet of one another and otherwise in a permissible location, the sexually oriented business which was first established and continually operating at a particular location is the conforming use and the later established business(es) is/are nonconforming.
   B.   Any sexually oriented business lawfully operating on the effective date of this chapter that is in violation of § 473-113, but located in an area zoned for commercial highway as defined in Chapter 600, Zoning, of the Code of the City of Reading, shall be deemed a nonconforming use and shall be allowed to continue operating as long as this business is in compliance with all other requirements of this chapter governing sexually oriented businesses.
   C.   Sexually oriented business lawfully operating as a conforming use is not rendered a nonconforming use by the location, subsequent to the grant or renewal of the sexually oriented business license, of a use listed in § 473-113B within 1,000 feet of the sexually oriented business. This provision applies only to the renewal of a valid license, and does not apply when an application is made for a license after the applicant's previous license has expired or been revoked.
§ 473-115. Additional regulations for adult motels.
   A.   Evidence that a sleeping room in a hotel, motel, or a similar commercial enterprise has been rented and vacated two or more times in a period of time that is less than 10 hours creates a rebuttable presumption that the enterprise is an adult motel as that term is defined in this chapter.
   B.   It is unlawful if a person, as the person in control of a sleeping room in a hotel, motel, or similar commercial enterprise that does not have a sexually oriented business license, rents or subrents a sleeping room to a person and, within 10 hours from the time the room is rented, he rents or subrents the same sleeping room again.
   C.   For purposes of Subsection B of this section, the terms "rent" or "subrent" mean the act of permitting a room to be occupied for any form of consideration.
   D.   Violation of Subsection B of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor.
§ 473-116. Additional regulations for escort agencies.
   A.   An escort agency shall not employ any person under the age of 21 years.
   B.   A person commits an offense if the person acts as an escort or agrees to act as an escort for any person under the age of 21 years.
   C.   It shall be an offense for a person, while acting as an escort, nude or seminude, to touch a patron or the clothing of a patron, or for a patron to touch a nude or seminude escort or the clothing of a seminude escort or for the escort to touch a nude or seminude patron or the clothing of a seminude patron.
   D.   Violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor.
§ 473-117. Additional regulations for nude model studios.
   A.   A nude model studio shall not employ any person under the age of 21 years.
   B.   A person under the age of 21 years commits a misdemeanor if the person appears seminude or in a state of nudity in or on the premises of a nude model studio. It is a defense to prosecution under this subsection if the person under 21 years was in a rest room not open to the public view or visible by any other person.
   C.   A person commits a misdemeanor if the person appears in a state of nudity, or with knowledge, allows another to appear in a state of nudity in an area of a nude model studio premises which can be viewed from the public right-of-way.
   D.   A nude model studio shall not place or permit a bed, sofa, or mattress in any room on the premises, except that a sofa may be placed in a reception room open to the public.
Loading...