Whereas, there is documented experience in many other cities including Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Tacoma, Washington; Detroit, Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and St. Paul, Minnesota among other cities, showing that adult uses are distinguishable from other business uses and that the location of adult uses may degrade or adversely affect the quality of life in the areas of a community where they are located, often with impacts, including but not limited to increased levels of crime, blight, depreciation of property values and late hours of operation resulting in noise and traffic late into the night; and

Whereas, it is the intention of the Town of Hopkinton to rely upon and reference the findings of the above municipalities and various detailed studies they have conducted that empirically document the adverse influences and effects of adult uses on surrounding properties; and

Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton is predominantly residential in its character and development pattern and, although primarily residential, is composed of a mixture of residential, business, commercial, religious, school, park and open space uses, and such areas of use are, in many instances, located in close proximity to one another with the resulting conflicts in land use; and

Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton desires to protect its residential lands from encroachment by commercial adult uses and to ensure and promote the town's image as a safe, pleasant and attractive place of residence for families with children, and to preserve and promote the peace and quiet enjoyment of these areas for all persons; and

Whereas, it is a desire of the Town of Hopkinton to preserve and protect the safety of children and young people in the vicinity of schools and public parks where they may be expected to walk, congregate and play, and furthermore that children and young people not be subjected to confrontation with the existence of adult uses in the vicinity of schools and parks, or in commercial areas where there is significant patronage and presence of children and young people; and

Whereas, the commercial areas of the Town of Hopkinton reflect greatly on its image in the region, and it is the desire of the Town of Hopkinton to promote a positive business community image, retain and promote safe and attractive business areas, and retain its rural character, free of crime and nuisance; and

Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton as an aid to mitigating the above impacts of adult uses desires to physically separate commercial adult uses from residential, religious, school, park and open space uses, so that residents not be subjected to confrontation with the existence of adult uses in the vicinity of their residences, schools, parks and playgrounds and churches and chosen places of worship; and

Whereas, adult uses engaging in the sale, rental or display of sexually explicit materials, including books, magazines, periodicals, pictures, photographs, slides, movies, videos, adult entertainment and live nudity, may legitimately be controlled by a municipality, either through concentrating in certain locations or separating from other uses which will be inordinately impacted by the sale, rental or display of sexually explicit materials, and furthermore MGL c. 40A, § 9A, specifically provides for municipal regulation of adult uses through special permits and standards related to location and separation of such uses; and

Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton does not desire to suppress any speech activities protected by the First Amendment, but rather to enact a content-neutral ordinance concerned with the secondary effects of adult uses on the surrounding community, especially crime and effects upon children and family life, and therefore desires reasonable regulation of the location of adult uses in order to provide for the protection of the image of the community, its property values, and to protect the residents of the community from any adverse effects of such adult land uses, while providing to those who desire to patronize adult uses such an opportunity in areas within the Town which are appropriate for location of such uses; and

Whereas, it is the intention of the Town of Hopkinton by the adoption of this Chapter to rely upon the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts pertaining to this subject matter, to regulate and limit the location of adult uses and to promote the Town of Hopkinton's great interest in protecting and preserving the quality of its neighborhoods, commercial districts and the quality of life through effective land use planning;

Pursuant to the procedures of MGL c. 40A, § 9A, the following uses shall be allowed only upon the grant of a special permit by the Zoning Board of Appeals:

Requests may be made for permits for more than one of the above uses in one location.

Such use shall not be conducted within a building in which other uses are located which admit persons under the age of 18.

Such use shall be permitted only when located outside the area circumscribed by a circle which has a radius of 400 feet from the following specified uses or zoning districts:

The premises and all buildings thereon in which such use occurs must comply in all respects with the requirements of the Hopkinton Zoning Bylaw which pertain to the district in which the said premises are located. In addition, the provisions of Article XX, Site Plan Review, as well as any design review requirements, shall apply to the premises.

Signs shall be permitted subject to the provisions of Article XXVII, Signs.

The application for any such special permit in accordance with this article must include the following items:

Should any change in any of the above items in Subsection A (1) through (7) occur at any time during the period of possession of a special permit hereunder, the permit holder shall forthwith provide the Zoning Board of Appeals with such new information.

The Zoning Board of Appeals may, in its discretion, issue a special permit for such use in accordance with the procedures of Article XXII of this Chapter and the conditions, provisions and requirements of said article.

No person who has been convicted of violating the provisions of MGL c. 119, § 63, or MGL c. 272, § 28, shall be granted a special permit pursuant to this article.

Special permits to be issued hereunder shall only be issued following public hearings which shall be held within 65 days after the filing of an application with the Zoning Board of Appeals, a copy of which shall be given forthwith to the Town Clerk by the applicant at the time of filing with the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Any special permit granted under this article shall lapse within one year from the date of issue, which period shall not include the time required to pursue or await determination of an appeal referred to in MGL c. 40A, § 17, if a substantial use thereof has not sooner commenced except for good cause, or in the case of a permit for construction, if construction has not begun within such period except for good cause.