(a) Purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to regulate adult entertainment facilities in order to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of the City, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious location and concentration of adult entertainment facilities within the City. The provisions of this chapter have neither the purpose nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content of any communicative materials, including sexually oriented materials. Similarly, it is not 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. Rather, this chapter is intended to provide for the proper location of adult uses in order to protect the integrity of adjacent neighborhoods, educational uses, religious uses, parks and other areas where large numbers of minors regularly travel or congregate, and the quality of urban life. It is the intent of this chapter to limit the adverse secondary effects of adult uses. The standards in this chapter are intended to ensure that residential districts, religious uses, educational uses, parks and other areas where large numbers of minors regularly travel or congregate are located in areas free from the adverse secondary effects of adult uses. The location of residential districts, religious uses, educational uses, parks and other areas where large numbers of minors regularly travel or congregate within viable, unblighted and desirable areas supports the preservation of property values and promotes the health, safety and welfare of the public.
(b) Findings. Based on evidence concerning the adverse secondary effects of adult uses on a community in reports and studies made available to the Council including, but not limited to, St. Paul, Minnesota; Phoenix, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Houston, Texas; Amarillo, Texas; Garden Grove, California; Los Angeles, California; Whittier, California; Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and on findings incorporated in cases decided by the United States Supreme Court, other Federal courts and Ohio courts, City Council finds: that the enactment of this chapter to regulate the adult uses is a substantial government interest for the City in preserving the quality of urban life and that it is in the interest of the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of Vandalia that adult uses are regulated pursuant to the standards herein. Council further finds:
(1) Adult entertainment facilities lend themselves to ancillary unlawful and unhealthy activities that are often uncontrolled by the operators of the establishments. Further, there is presently no mechanism to make the owners of these establishments responsible for such activities that occur on their premises.
(2) Certain employees of certain adult entertainment facilities engage in higher incidence of certain types of illicit sexual behavior than employees of other establishments.
(3) A reasonable licensing procedure is an appropriate mechanism to place the burden of that reasonable regulation on the owners and the operators of adult entertainment facilities. Further, such a licensing procedure will place a heretofore nonexistent incentive on the operators to see that the adult entertainment facility is run in a manner consistent with the health, safety and welfare of its patrons and employees, as well as the citizens of the City. It is appropriate to require reasonable assurances that the permittee is the actual operator of the adult entertainment facility, fully in possession and control of the premises and activities occurring therein.
(4) Requiring permittees of adult entertainment facility 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 minors from working in such establishments.
(Ord. 08-13. Passed 6-16-08.)