(a) It is the purpose of this chapter to regulate adult entertainment establishments to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the County, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious secondary effects of adult entertainment establishments within the County. The provisions of this chapter have neither the purpose nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content or reasonable access to any communicative materials, including sexually oriented materials. Similarly, it is neither the intent nor effect of this chapter 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 chapter to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material.
(b) Based on evidence of the adverse secondary effects of adult uses presented in hearings and in reports made available to the Board, and on findings incorporated in the cases of Pap's A.M. v. City of Erie, 529 U.S. 277 (2000); City of Renton V. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41 (1986), Young v. American Mini Theatres, 426 U.S. 50 (1976), FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 493 U.S. 215 (1990); Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991); Thomas v. Chicago Park District, 122 S. Ct. 775 (2002); California v. LaRue, 409 U.S. 109 (1972); Davis v. Gates, No. 91-56174, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 22417 (9th Cir., July 7, 1992); KEV, Inc. v. Kitsap County, 793 F.2d 1053 (9th Cir. 1986); Alameda Books, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 2002 U.S. Lexis 3424; Colacurcio v. Kent, 163 F.3d 545 (9th Cir. 1998); North v. City of Gilroy, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 5368 (9th Cir. 1996); Spokane Arcade, Inc. v. City of Spokane, 75 F.3d 663 (9th Cir. 1996); L.J. Concepts, Inc. v. City of Phoenix, CV-98-1583-EHC (D. Ariz. 1999), aff'd per curiam, No.99-17270 (9th Cir., Mar.30, 2000); IDK, Inc. v. County of Clark, 836 F.2d 1185 (9th Cir 1988); Baby Tam & Co. v. City of Las Vegas, 154 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 1998) (Baby Tam I); Baby Tam & Co. v. City of Las Vegas, 199 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. 2000) (Baby Tam II); Baby Tam & Co. v. City of Las Vegas, 247 F.3d 1003 (9th Cir. 2001) (Baby Tam III); 4805 Convoy, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 183 F.3d 1108 (9th Cir. 1999); Lydo Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Las Vegas, 745 F.2d 1211 (9th Cir. 1984); Tily B., Inc. v. City of Newport Beach, 69 Cal. App. 4th 1 (Cal. Ct. App. 1998); Sundance Saloon, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 213 Cal. App. 3d 807 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989); 7978 Corporation v. Pitchess, 41 Cal. App. 3d 42 (Cal. Ct. App. 1974); Deluxe Theater & Bookstore, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 175 Cal. App. 3d 980 (Cal. Ct. App. 1985); E. WA.P., Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 65 Cal. Rptr. 2d 325 (Cal. Ct. App. 1997); City of National City v. Wiener, 838 P.2d 223 (Cal. 1990); and other cases; and reports of secondary effects occurring in and around adult entertainment establishments, including, but not limited to, Phoenix, Arizona - 1984; Minneapolis, Minnesota - 1980; Houston, Texas - 1997; Indianapolis, Indiana - 1984; Amarillo, Texas - 1977; Garden Grove, California - 1991; Los Angeles, California - 1977; Whittier, California - 1978; Austin, Texas - 1986; Seattle, Washington - 1989; Oklahoma County, Oklahoma - 1986; Cleveland, Ohio - 1977; Dallas, Texas - 1997; Tucson, Arizona -1990; St Croix County, Wisconsin - 1993; Bellevue, Washington, - 1998; Newport News, Virginia - 1996; New York, New York - 1994; Phoenix, Arizona - 1995-98; and from summaries of several of the foregoing secondary effects reports; and also on findings from the paper entitled "Strip clubs According to Strippers: Exposing Workplace Sexual Violence," by Kelly Holsopple, Program Director, Freedom and Justice Center for Prostitution Resources, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and from "Sexually Oriented Businesses: An Insider's View," by David Sherman, presented to the Michigan House Committee on Ethics and Constitutional Law, Jan. 12, 2000; and the Report of the Attorney General's Working Group On The Regulation Of Sexually Oriented Businesses, (June 6, 1989, State of Minnesota), the Board finds:
(1) Adult Entertainment Establishments lend themselves to ancillary unlawful and unhealthy activities that cause deleterious secondary effects in the establishments and in the areas surrounding them. This chapter is designed to make the owners and operators of these establishments responsible, within constitutional boundaries, for the activities that occur on their premises.
(2) Certain employees of unregulated adult entertainment establishments defined in this chapter as adult cabarets engage in higher incidence of certain types of illicit sexual behavior than employees of other establishments.
(3) Sexual acts, including masturbation and oral and anal sex, occur at unregulated adult entertainment establishments, especially those which provide private or semi-private booths or cubicles for viewing films or videos or live striptease and sex shows.
(4) Offering and providing such unregulated space encourages unsanitary activities, which creates unhealthy conditions.
(5) Persons frequent certain adult cabarets, adult arcades, and other adult entertainment establishments for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual activities within the premises of such adult entertainment establishments, or for the purpose of purchasing or selling illicit drugs.
(6) Numerous communicable diseases may be spread by activities occurring in adult entertainment establishments.
(7) According to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation, an estimated 650,000 to 900,000 Americans are infected with HIV. The number of new HIV infections occurring each year is now about 41,000. Men and women of all races are most likely to be infected by sexual contact.
(8) Relevant statistics revealed that a total of 117,521 AIDS cases have been reported in California through June of 2000. Of the 50 United States, California has the second- highest number of AIDS cases and represents more than 15% of the 753,907 AIDS cases reported.
(9) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that as many as 1 in 3 people with HIV do not know they are infected.
(10) The number of cases of early (less than one year) syphilis in the United States reported annually has risen, with 33,613 cases reported in 1982 and 45,200 through November of 1990.
(11) The number of cases of gonorrhea in the United States reported annually remains at a high level, with over one-half million cases being reported in 1990.
(12) The surgeon general of the United States in his report of October 22, 1986, has advised the American public that AIDS and HIV infection may be transmitted through sexual contact, intravenous drug abuse, exposure to infected blood and blood components, and from an infected mother to her newborn.
(13) According to the best scientific evidence, AIDS and HIV infection, as well as syphilis and gonorrhea, are principally transmitted by sexual acts.
(14) Sanitary conditions in some adult entertainment establishments are unhealthy, in part, because the activities conducted there are unhealthy, and, in part, because of the unregulated nature of the activities and the failure of the owners and the operators of the facilities to self-regulate those activities and maintain those facilities.
(15) Numerous studies and reports have determined that semen is found in the areas of adult entertainment establishments where persons view "adult" oriented films and live sexual shows.
(16) The findings noted in paragraphs number 1 through 15 raise substantial governmental concerns.
(17) Adult Entertainment Establishments have operational characteristics that should be reasonably regulated in order to protect those substantial governmental concerns.
(18) A reasonable licensing procedure is an appropriate mechanism to place the burden of that reasonable regulation on the owners and the operators of the adult entertainment establishments. Further, such a licensing procedure will give an incentive on the operators to see that the adult entertainment establishment is run in a manner consistent with the health, safety and welfare of its patrons and employees, as well as the citizens of the County. It is appropriate to require reasonable assurances that the licensee is the actual operator of the adult entertainment establishment, in ultimate possession and control of the premises and activities occurring therein.
(19) Removal of doors on adult booths and requiring sufficient lighting on premises with adult booths advances a substantial governmental interest in curbing the illegal and unsanitary sexual activity occurring in adult entertainment establishments.
(20) Requiring licensees of adult entertainment establishments to keep information regarding current employees and certain past employees will help reduce the incidence of certain types of criminal behavior by facilitating the identification of potential witnesses or suspects and by preventing criminals and minors from working in such establishments.
(21) The disclosure of certain information by those persons ultimately responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the adult entertainment establishment, where such information is substantially related to the significant governmental interest in the operation of such uses, will aid in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and will prevent the further secondary effects of crime, blight, and dissemination of illegal obscenity, child pornography, and to minors, materials harmful to them;
(22) It is desirable in the prevention of the spread of communicable diseases to obtain a limited amount of information regarding certain employees who may engage in the conduct which this chapter is designed to prevent or who are likely to be witnesses to such activity.
(23) The fact that an applicant for an adult use has been convicted of a sexually related crime leads to the rational assumption that the applicant may engage in that conduct in contravention of this chapter.
(24) The barring of such individuals from employment in adult entertainment establishments for a specified period of years serves to prevent distribution of illegal material, to prevent conduct which leads to the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, and to preclude the establishment of criminal enterprises within the County.
(25) The general welfare, health, and safety of the citizens of the County will be promoted by the enactment of this chapter.
(Added by Ord. No. 8244 (N.S.), effective 6-17-93; amended by Ord. No. 9479 (N.S.), effective 7-19-02; amended by Ord. No. 9889 (N.S.), effective 10-26-07)