A. The director of community development shall issue an adult oriented business permit within thirty days of receipt of a complete application if he/she finds that the plans and application information assures that the adult oriented business will provide and comply with the following:
1. The adult oriented business shall be located in the city's CG (General Commercial) or GI (General Industrial) zoning district.
2. The adult oriented business shall not be located within one thousand feet of any residential zone.
3. The adult oriented business shall not be located within five hundred feet of any lot upon which there is properly located a public park or school or within five hundred feet of any lot used by a religious institution for religious activities at least three times per week.
4. The adult oriented business shall not be located within one thousand feet of another adult oriented business.
5. The adult oriented business shall not be located on any property fronting upon a major highway as defined in the general plan of the City of Signal Hill. For the purpose of this chapter, a property fronts on such a highway if any portion of the property and any portion of the right-of-way for the road have a contiguous boundary.
6. The minimum parking requirements for adult oriented businesses shall be as follows:
Business Type Parking Requirements
Theaters 1 parking space/3 seats
Retail establishments 1 parking space/250 sq. ft. of gross floor area
Cabarets 1 parking space/100 sq. ft. of gross floor area
Motion picture arcade 1 parking space/ individual viewing area plus 1 parking space/employee
Motel/hotel 1 parking space/guest room
If the director finds that any specific use or mix of uses necessitates additional parking, the director may increase the number of parking spaces reasonably needed to accommodate the demand for parking.
7. The adult oriented business shall not be located completely or partially within any mobile structure or pushcart.
8. The adult oriented business shall not stage any special events, promotions, festivals, concerts or similar events which would increase the demand for parking beyond the approved number of spaces for the particular use.
9. The adult oriented business shall not conduct any massage, tattooing or acupressure on the premises or operate escort services from the premises.
10. The adult oriented business shall provide a security system that visually records and monitors parking lot areas. All indoor areas of the adult oriented business which are accessible to the public shall be open to public view at all times with the exception of restroom facilities. "Accessible to the public" shall include but not be limited to those areas which are only accessible to members of the public who pay a fee and/or join a private club or organization.
11. The adult oriented business complies with the city's sign regulations.
12. The adult oriented business complies with the development and design requirements of the zone in which it is to be located.
13. The adult oriented business shall not display any sexually oriented material or sexually oriented merchandise, which would be visible from any location other than from within the adult oriented business.
14. The adult oriented business shall not allow admittance to any person under the age of eighteen if no liquor is served, or under the age of twenty-one if liquor is served.
15. With the exclusion of adult oriented hotels, the adult oriented business shall not operate between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.
16. Neither the applicant, if an individual, nor any of the officers or general partners, if a corporation or partnership, of the adult oriented business has been found guilty within the past two years of a misdemeanor or felony classified by the state oriented business permit or similar permit or license in any city, county, territory or state.
17. The adult oriented business shall provide separate restroom facilities for male and female patrons.
18. All areas of the adult oriented business shall be illuminated at a minimum of 1.25 foot-candles, minimally maintained and evenly distributed at ground level.
19. The individual viewing areas of the adult oriented business shall be operated and maintained with no holes, openings or other means of direct visual or physical access between the interior space of two or more individual viewing areas.
20. No building, premises, structure or other facility shall be permitted to contain more than one type of adult oriented business as such types of adult oriented business are defined in Section 9.64.020. For the purposes of this section, the catch-all phrase "adult oriented business" shall not be considered a single type of adult oriented business.
21. No more than one person may occupy any seat or individual viewing area at any one time.
22. At least one security guard shall be on duty patrolling the grounds and interior areas of the adult oriented business at all times the business is open to the public. All security guards shall be readily identifiable as a security guard. For all adult oriented businesses providing live entertainment, an additional security guard will be required with each fifty persons granted admission to the business.
B. The applicant for an adult oriented business shall prepare a "Security Plan" for review by the chief of police, which shall indicate the location of all surveillance cameras and equipment, the identity of the person or persons to be responsible for providing security, the security measures to be taken for all doors and windows, and other information reasonably requested by the chief of police. Applications for an adult oriented business shall not be deemed complete until after the chief of police acknowledges that the security plan is complete in all respects.
C. Once a completed application is submitted, approval of an adult oriented business permit is a ministerial action. Public notice shall not be given and there shall be no public hearings regarding the approval or denial of the permit. The director shall deny the requested permit if he or she determines that the applicant cannot adequately show that all of the above findings and criteria will be met. Otherwise, the director shall approve the permit. If the city fails to take action on a completed application within sixty days, the application shall be deemed approved.
D. The distances of separation from an adult oriented business to a sensitive land use, as described in paragraph A(2)-(4), shall be made using a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the property line of the lot on which the adult oriented business shall be located to the nearest property line of the lot upon which is located the other applicable land use.
(Ord. 2004-01-1325 § 4: Ord. 2003-07-1320 § 2: Ord. 2003-05-1317 § 2)