Lancaster City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 1139
Sexually Oriented Businesses
1139.01 RATIONALE AND FINDINGS.
(a) Purpose. It is the purpose of this ordinance to regulate sexually oriented businesses in order to promote the health, safety, moral, and general welfare of the citizens of the City, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses within the City. The provisions of this ordinance 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 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 material.
(b) Findings and Rationale. Based on evidence of the adverse secondary effects of adult uses presented in hearings and in reports made available to the City Council, and on findings, interpretations, and narrowing constructions incorporated in the cases of City of Littleton v. Z.J. Gifts D-4, L.L.C., 124 S.Ct. 2219 (June 7, 2004); City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, Inc., 535 U.S. 425 (2002); 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), Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., 501 U.S. 560 (1991); California v. LaRue, 409 U.S. 109 (1972); and Deja Vu of Cincinnati, Inc. v. Union Township, Ohio, 411 F.3d 777 (6th Cir. 2005) (en banc); DLS, Inc. v. City of Chattanooga, 107 F.3d 403 (6th Cir. 1997); Brandywine, Inc. v. City of Richmond, 359 F.3d 830 (6th Cir. 2004); Currence v. City of Cincinnati, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 1258; Broadway Books v. Roberts, 642 F.Supp. 486 (E.D. Tenn. 1986); Bright Lights, Inc. v. City of Newport, 830 F.Supp. 378 (E.D. Ky. 1993); Richland Bookmart v. Nichols, 137 F.3d 435 (6th Cir. 1998); Center for Fair Public Policy v. Maricopa County, 336 F.3d 1153 (9th Cir. 2003); DéjB vu v. Metro Government, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 535 (6th Cir. 1999); Bamon Corp. v. City of Dayton, 923 F.2d 470 (6th Cir. 1991); Triplett Grille, Inc. v. City of Akron, 40 F.3d 129 (6th Cir. 1994); O'Connor v. City and County of Denver, 894 F.2d 1210 (10th Cir. 1990); DéjB vu of Nashville, Inc., et al. v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, 274 F.3d 377 (6th Cir. 2001); Z.J. Gifts D-2, L.L.C. v. City of Aurora, 136 F.3d 683 (10th Cir. 1998); ILQ Investments, Inc. v. City of Rochester, 25 F.3d 1413 (8th Cir. 1994); Threesome Entertainment v. Strittmather, 4 F.Supp.2d 710 (N.D. Ohio 1998); Bigg Wolf Discount Video Sales, Inc. v. Montgomery County, 256 F. Supp. 2d 385 (D. Md. 2003); Kentucky Restaurant Concepts, Inc. v. City of Louisville and Jefferson County, 209 F.Supp.2d 672 (W.D. Ky. 2002); Lady J. Lingerie, Inc. v. City of Jacksonville, 176 F.3d 1358 (11th Cir. 1999); Restaurant Ventures v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Gov't, 60 S.W.3d 572 (Ct. App. Ky. 2001); World Wide Video of Washington, Inc. v. City of Spokane, 368 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. 2004); Ben's Bar, Inc. v. Village of Somerset, 316 F.3d 702 (7th Cir. 2003); and based upon reports concerning secondary effects occurring in and around sexually oriented businesses, including, but not limited to, Austin, Texas - 1986; Indianapolis, Indiana - 1984; Garden Grove, California - 1991; Houston, Texas - 1983, 1997; Phoenix, Arizona - 1979, 1995-98; Chattanooga, Tennessee - 1999-2003; Minneapolis, Minnesota - 1980; Los Angeles, California - 1977; Whittier, California - 1978; Spokane, Washington - 2001; St. Cloud, Minnesota - 1994; Littleton, Colorado - 2004; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - 1986; Dallas, Texas - 1997; Greensboro, North Carolina - 2003; Amarillo, Texas - 1977; New York, New York Times Square - 1994; and the Report of the Attorney General's Working Group On The Regulation Of Sexually Oriented Businesses, (June 6, 1989, State of Minnesota), the City Council finds:
(1) Sexually oriented businesses, as a category of commercial uses, are associated with a wide variety of adverse secondary effects including, but not limited to, personal and property crimes, prostitution, potential spread of disease, lewdness, public indecency, obscenity, illicit drug use and drug trafficking, negative impacts on surrounding properties, urban blight, litter, and sexual assault and exploitation.
(2) Sexually oriented businesses should be separated from sensitive land uses to minimize the impact of their secondary effects upon such uses, and should be separated from other sexually oriented businesses, to minimize the secondary effects associated with such uses and to prevent an unnecessary concentration of sexually oriented businesses in one area.
(3) Each of the foregoing negative secondary effects constitutes a harm which the City has a substantial government interest in preventing and/or abating. This substantial government interest in preventing secondary effects, which is the City's rationale for this ordinance, exists independent of any comparative analysis between sexually oriented and non-sexually oriented businesses. Additionally, the City's interest in regulating sexually oriented businesses extends to preventing future secondary effects of either current or future sexually oriented businesses that may locate in the City. The City finds that the cases and documentation relied on in this chapter are reasonably believed to be relevant to said secondary effects.
(Ord. 15-23. Passed 8-14-23.)
1139.02 DEFINITIONS.
The words in this chapter shall have the meanings therein respectively ascribed to them by Chapter 707
of the Lancaster Code of Ordinances unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context. (Ord. 15-23. Passed 8-14-23.)
1139.03 CRITERIA.
Sexually oriented businesses shall be considered a Special Exception in the SI District, subject to the following conditions:
(a) No sexually oriented business shall be established within five hundred (500) feet of any R District including R, MHC, etc. or any single or multi-family use.
(b) No sexually oriented business shall be established within a radius of five hundred (500) feet of any school, library, or teaching facility, whether public or private, when such school, library, or teaching facility is attended by persons under eighteen (18) years of age.
(c) No sexually oriented business shall be established within a radius of five hundred (500) feet of a nursery, preschool or daycare facility.
(d) No sexually oriented business shall be established within a radius of five hundred (500) feet of any park or recreational facility attended by persons under eighteen (18) years of age.
(e) No sexually oriented business shall be established within a radius of five hundred (500) feet of any church, synagogue, or worship facility.
(f) No sexually oriented business shall be established within a radius of five hundred (500) feet of any other sexually oriented business.
(g) Lighting on the exterior of the building shall be arranged so as to illuminate the entire off-street parking area with sufficient intensity to provide illumination of not less than two (2.0) foot candles as measured at the floor level.
The distances as cited in this Section above shall be measured by following a straight line, without regard to intervening buildings, from the nearest point of the building in which the proposed sexually oriented business is to be located, to the nearest point of the property line, or District from which the proposed sexually oriented business is to be separated.
(Ord. 15-23. Passed 8-14-23.)
1139.04 SEVERABILITY.
This ordinance and each section and provision of said chapter hereunder, are hereby declared to be independent divisions and subdivisions and, not withstanding any other evidence of legislative intent, it is hereby declared to be the controlling legislative intent that if any provisions of said chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid, the remaining sections or provisions and the application of such sections and provisions to any person or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby, and it is hereby declared that such sections and provisions would have been passed independently of such section or provision so known to be invalid.
(Ord. 15-23. Passed 8-14-23.)