SAMPLE RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING

REGULATIONS FOR SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES

WHEREAS, sexually oriented businesses require special supervision in order to protect and preserve the health, safety, and welfare of the patrons of such businesses, as well as the citizens of the communities where they locate; and

WHEREAS, it has been found that sexually oriented businesses are frequently used for unlawful sexual activities, including prostitution and sexual liaisons of a casual nature; and

WHEREAS, the concern over sexually transmitted diseases is a legitimate health concern of the city that demands reasonable regulation of sexually oriented businesses in order to protect the health and well-being of the citizens; and

WHEREAS, licensing is a legitimate means of accountability to ensure that operators of sexually oriented businesses comply with reasonable regulations, and to ensure that operators do not allow their establishments to be used as places of illegal sexual activity or solicitation; and

WHEREAS, there is convincing documented evidence that sexually oriented businesses, because of their very nature, have a deleterious effect on both the existing businesses around them and the surrounding residential areas adjacent to them, causing increased crime and the downgrading of property values; and

WHEREAS, it is recognized that sexually oriented businesses, due to their nature, have serious objectionable operational characteristics, particularly when they are located in proximity to each other, thereby contributing to urban blight and downgrading the quality of life in the adjacent area; and

WHEREAS, communities want to prevent these adverse effects and thereby protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizenry; protect the citizens from increased crime; preserve the quality of life; preserve the property values and character of surrounding neighborhoods and deter the spread of urban blight; and

WHEREAS, it is not the intent to suppress any speech activities protected by the First Amendment, but to enact a content neutral ordinance that addresses the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses as well as the health problems associated with such businesses; and

WHEREAS, it is not the intent of the community to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene materials, and it is recognized that state and federal law prohibits the distribution of obscene materials and expects and encourages state enforcement officials to enforce state and federal obscenity statutes against any such illegal activities in our community; and

WHEREAS, it is the purpose of this ordinance to regulate sexually oriented businesses and related activities to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of this community, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious location and concentration of sexually oriented businesses within this community. The provisions of this ordinance 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 ordinance 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 ordinance to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene materials; and

WHEREAS, based on evidence concerning the adverse secondary effects of adult uses on the community presented in hearings and in reports available to the City Council, and on findings incorporated in the various court cases (City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41 (1986); Young v. American Mini Theatres, 426 U.S. 50 (1976); and Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991); Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697, (1986); California v. LaRue, 409 U.S. 109 (1972); Iacobucci v. City of Newport, Ky, 479 U.S. 92 (1986); United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968); DLS, Inc. v. City of Chattanooga, 107 F.3d 403 (6th Cir.1997); Kev, Inc. v. Kitsap County, 793 F.2d 1053 (9th Cir.1986); Hang On, Inc. v. City of Arlington,, 65 F.3d 1248 (5th Cir.1995); and South Florida Free Beaches, Inc. v. City of Miami, 734 F.2d 608 (11th Cir.1984); as well as studies conducted in other cities including, but not limited to, Phoenix, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Houston, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Amarillo, Texas; Garden Grove, California; Los Angeles, California; Whittier, California; Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Cleveland, Ohio; and Beaumont, Texas) and findings reported in the Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986), the Report of the Attorney General's Working Group On the Regulation Of Sexually Oriented Businesses (June 6, 1989, State of Minnesota), and statistics obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

it is known that,

(1) Sexually oriented businesses lend themselves to ancillary unlawful and unhealthy activities that are presently uncontrolled by the operators of the establishments. Further, there is presently no mechanism to make owners of these establishments responsible for the activities that occur on their premises.

(2) Crime statistics show that all types of crimes, especially sex-related crimes, occur with more frequency in neighborhoods where sexually oriented businesses are located. See, e.g., Studies of the cities of Phoenix, Arizona; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Austin, Texas.

(3) Sexual acts, including masturbation, and oral and anal sex, occur at sexually oriented businesses, especially those which provide private or semi-private booths or cubicles for viewing films, videos, or live sex shows. See, e.g., California v. LaRue, 409 U.S. 109, 111 (1972); See also Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) at 377.

(4) Offering and providing such booths and/or cubicles encourages such activities, which creates unhealthy conditions. See, e.g., Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) at 376-77.

(5) Persons frequent certain adult theaters, adult arcades, and other sexually oriented businesses, for the purpose of engaging in sex within the premises of such sexually oriented businesses. See, e.g., Arcara v. Cloud Books, Inc., 478 U.S. 697, 698 (1986); see also Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) at 376-77.

(6) At least 50 communicable diseases may be spread by activities occurring in sexually oriented businesses including, but not limited to, syphilis, gonorrhea, human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV-AIDS), genital herpes, hepatitis B, Non A, Non B amebiasis, salmonella infections, and shigella infections. See, e.g., Study of Fort Meyers, Florida.

(7) For the period 1985 through 1995, the total number of reported cases of AIDS in the United States caused by the immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was 523,056. See, e.g., Statistics of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(8) The total number of cases of early (less than one year) syphilis in the United States reported during the ten year period 1985-1995 was 367,796. See, e.g., Statistics of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(9) The number of cases of gonorrhea in the United States reported annually remains at a high level, with a total of 1,250,581 cases reported during the period 1993-1995. See, e.g. Statistics of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(10) The surgeon general of the United States in his report of October 22, 1986, advised the American public that AIDS and HIV infection may be transmitted through sexual contact, intravenous drug use, exposure to infected blood and blood components, and from an infected mother to her newborn.

(11) According to the best scientific evidence available, AIDS and HIV infection, as well as syphilis and gonorrhea, are principally transmitted by sexual acts. See, e.g. Findings of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(12) Sanitary conditions in some sexually oriented businesses 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. See, e.g., Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) at 377.

(13) Numerous studies and reports have determined that bodily fluids, including semen and urine, are found in the areas of sexually oriented businesses where persons view "adult" oriented films. See,e.g., Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) at 377.

(14) Nude dancing in adult establishments encourages prostitution, increases sexual assaults, and attracts other criminal activity. See, e.g., Barnes v. Glen Theatre, 501 U.S. 560, 583 (1991).

(15) Nude dancing in adult establishments increases the likelihood of drug-dealing and drug use. See, e.g., Kev, Inc. v. Kitsap County, 793 F.2d 1053, 1056 (9th Cir.1986).

(16) The findings noted in paragraphs numbered (1) through (15) raise substantial governmental concerns.

(17) Sexually oriented businesses have operational characteristics which 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 sexually oriented businesses. Further, such a licensing procedure will place a heretofore non-existent incentive on the operators to see that the sexually oriented business is run in a manner consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of its patrons and employees, as well as the citizens of this community. It is appropriate to require reasonable assurances that the licensee is the actual operator of the sexually oriented business, fully in possession and control of the premises and activities occurring therein.

(19) Removal of doors on adult booths and requiring sufficient lighting on the premises with adult booths advances a substantial governmental interest in curbing the illegal and unsanitary sexual activity occurring in adult establishments.

(20) The disclosure of certain information by those persons ultimately responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the sexually oriented business, 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 criminal activity.

(21) 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 this ordinance is designed to prevent or who are likely to be witnesses to such activity.

(22) The fact that an applicant for a sexually oriented business license has been convicted of a sex-related crime leads to the rational assumption that the applicant may engage in that conduct in contravention to this ordinance.

(23) The barring of such individuals from operation or employment in sexually oriented businesses for a period of ten (10) years for a previous felony conviction serves as a deterrent to and prevents conduct which leads to the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

(24) The general welfare, health, morals, and safety of the citizens of this community will be promoted by the enactment of this ordinance.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the appropriate means be taken by our community's elected officials to enact such an ordinance to regulate the existing or future sexually oriented businesses which locate in our community.