Orange City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XV
Adult Use Establishments
§ 383-144 Purpose and findings.
A.
The intent of this article is to regulate adult-oriented establishments which, because of their very nature, are recognized as having serious objectionable characteristics, particularly when several of them are concentrated under certain circumstances, thereby having a deleterious effect upon the adjacent areas. Special regulation of these uses is necessary to ensure that these adverse effects will not contribute to the blighting or downgrading of the surrounding neighborhood. The primary control or regulation is for the purpose of preventing a concentration of these uses in any one area as well as the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Orange. The regulations are, therefore, adopted to protect retail trade, prevent crime, maintain property values, preserve the quality of neighborhood property and life, address related concerns with littering, parking, traffic, and public indecency, to maintain the interest of persons in their property in a state of good repair, and to spend, patronize and trade in their community.
B.
Statistics and studies performed by a substantial number of cities and towns in the United States indicate that:
(1)
Large numbers of persons frequent such adult-oriented establishments, especially those which provide closed booths, cubicles, studios and rooms for the private viewing of so called adult motion pictures and/or videotapes and/or live entertainment; and
(2)
Such closed booths, cubicles, studios and rooms have been used by patrons, clients or customers of such adult-oriented establishments for the purpose of engaging in specified sexual activities; and
(3)
Male and female prostitutes have been known to frequent such. establishments in order to provide sex for hire to the patrons, clients or customers of such establishments within such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms; and
(4)
Doors, curtains, blinds and/or other closures installed or on the entrances and/or exits of such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms which are closed while such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms are in use, encourage patrons, clients or customers using such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms to engage in specified sexual activities therein with prostitutes and/or with other persons and/or by themselves, thereby promoting or encouraging prostitution and the commission of specified sexual activities which cause blood, semen, urine or other bodily secretion to be deposited on the floors and/or walls of such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms which deposits could prove detrimental to the health and safety of other persons who may come into contact with such deposits; and
(5)
Booths, cubicles, studios and rooms which are closed while such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms are in use often contain holes that have been cut or smashed out of the walls or other partitioning material. These holes permit the inhabitant of one booth to engage in specified sexual activities with the inhabitant of an adjoining booth, cubicle, studio or room. These promote and encourage specified sexual acts to occur between persons anonymously. Anonymous sexual contact poses a higher risk of spread of communicable diseases including the AIDS virus and Hepatitis B and other sexually transmitted diseases. Further, the existence of such holes in booths, cubicles, studios and rooms in an adult-oriented establishment provides an increased risk that blood, semen, urine and other bodily secretions will be deposited on the floors and/or walls of such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms, which deposits could prove detrimental to the health and safety of other persons who may come into contact with such deposits; and
(6)
Specified sexual activities often occur at unregulated adult-oriented establishments which provide live adult entertainment, specified sexual activities, including sexual physical contact between employees and patrons, clients or customers of adult-oriented establishments, and specifically include lap dancing and/or manual or oral touching or fondling of specified anatomical areas whether clothed or unclothed. Such casual, sexual physical contact between strangers may result in the transmission of communicable diseases which would be detrimental to the health of the patrons, clients or customers and employees of such adult-oriented establishments; and
(7)
The unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments is associated with an increase in the incidents of sex-related crimes and also has a disruptive effect on the surrounding neighborhood by causing excessive noise, parking problems, the presence of discarded sexually oriented material on residential lawns, and the performance of sexual acts in public places; and
(8)
The reasonable regulation and supervision of such adult-oriented establishments tends to discourage prostitution, other sex-related crimes, anonymous high-risk sexual contact and/or high-risk unsanitary sexual activity, excessive noise and property devaluation, thereby decreasing the incidents of communicable diseases and sex-related crimes and thereby promoting and protecting the health, safety and welfare of the employees and the public who patronize such establishments and protecting the health, safety, and property interests of the Town and its citizens.
C.
The continued unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments is and would be detrimental to the general welfare, health and safety of the citizens of Orange. The Constitution and the laws of the State of Connecticut grant to the Town powers, especially police power, to enact reasonable legislation and measures to regulate and supervise adult-oriented establishments in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
D.
It is not the intent of the Orange Plan and Zoning Commission to deny any person rights to speech protected by the United States and/or State Constitutions, to impose any limitations or restrictions on the content of any communicative materials, including sexually-oriented films, videotapes, books and/or other materials, nor to deny or restrict the rights of any adult to obtain or view any sexually oriented materials protected by the United States and/or State Constitution or to restrict or deny any Constitutionally protected rights that distributors or exhibitors of such sexually oriented materials may have to sell, distribute or exhibit such materials.
§ 383-145 Definitions.
For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases shall mean:
Any amusement machine that is regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities and specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation by patrons therein.
An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, films for rent or sale or for viewing on premises by uses of motion-picture devices or any coin-operated means, and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, or has facilities for the presentation of adult entertainment.
Any exhibition of any adult-oriented motion pictures, live performance, display or dance of any type which has as a significant or substantial portion of such performance, any actual or simulated performance of specified sexual activities or exhibition and viewing of specified anatomical area, removal or articles of clothing or appearing unclothed in a modeling or any other personal service offered customers. It also includes any material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas as defined herein for observation by patrons, clients or customers thereof.
A public or private establishment which feature topless dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers, or acts relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, or otherwise providing adult entertainment, as herein defined, for observation by patrons therein.
An enclosed building with a capacity for less than 50 persons used for material having as a dominant theme material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, for observation by patrons therein.
Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin- or slug-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still or motion-picture machines, projectors, or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
An enclosed building with a capacity of 50 or more persons used regularly and routinely for material having as a dominant theme material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, for observation by patrons therein.
Includes, without limitation, a commercial establishment containing one or more, without limitation, adult amusement machines, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture theaters, adult mini-motion-picture theaters, adult motion-picture arcades, adult retail establishments and further means any premises to which the public, patrons, clients, customers or members are invited or admitted and wherever an entertainer provides adult entertainment, or which premises are so visibly arranged as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms, studios, compartments or stalls, separate from the common areas of the premises for the purpose of viewing adult-oriented motion pictures or wherein an entertainer provides adult entertainment when such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained for profit, direct or indirect or not for profit. An adult-oriented establishment further includes without limitation any adult entertainment studio or any premises that are physically arranged and used as such whether advertised or represented as an adult entertainment, rap studio, exotic dance studio and encounter studio, sensitivity studio, massage studio, modeling studio or any other term of like import.
A business which offers for sale or rent instruments, devices, gifts or paraphernalia which are designed or marketed for use in connection with specified sexual activities, clothing that graphically depicts specified anatomical areas or any of the materials sold or rented in an adult bookstore as defined above, if a substantial or significant portion of such items is distinguished or characterized by its emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas. In determining whether an item is "designed or marketed for use" in connection with specified sexual activities, the following guidelines may be considered:
Expert testimony as to the principal use of the item;
Evidence concerning the total business of a person or business establishment and the type of merchandise involved in the business;
National and local advertising concerning the nature of the business establishment;
Evidence of advertising concerning the nature of the business establishment;
Instructions, graphics or other material contained on the item itself or on the packaging materials for the item;
The physical or structural characteristics of the item;
The manner in which the item is displayed, including its proximity to other regulated merchandise or signage relating to items in a display area.
Any one of the following:
Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal;
Acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse, sodomy, bestiality, necrophilia, sadomasochistic abuse, fellatio or cunnilingus;
Fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttock or female breast;
Lap dancing.
However, the definition of "specified sexual activity" shall not apply to any medical publications or films or bona fide educational publication or films, any art or photography publications which devote 25% of the lineage of each issue to articles and advertisements dealing with subjects of art or photography; any periodical which reports or describes current events and which from time to time publishes photos of nude or semi-nude persons in connection with the dissemination of the news, publications or films which describe and report different cultures and which, from time to time, publish or show photographs or depiction of nude or semi-nude persons when describing cultures in which nudity or semi-nudity is indigenous to the population.
A substantial or significant portion of a business is devoted to the sale or rental of such items if it meets any one or more of the following criteria:
Twenty percent or more of all inventory consists of such items at anytime;
Twenty percent or more of the merchandise displayed for sale consists of such items at any time;
Twenty percent or more of the stock-in-trade consists of such items at any time;
Twenty percent or more of the floor area of the business (not including storerooms, stock areas, bathrooms, basements or any portion of the business not open to the public) is devoted to such items at any time.
Twenty percent or more of the sales, measured in dollars over any consecutive ninety-day period, is derived from such items;
Twenty percent or more of the number of sales transactions, measured over any consecutive ninety-day period, is of such items;
Twenty percent or more of the dollar value of all merchandise displayed at any time is attributable to such items.
§ 383-146 Regulated uses.
B.
Adult uses shall be permitted subject to the following restrictions:
(1)
No such adult use shall be allowed within 1,500 feet of another existing adult use. The 1,500 feet shall be the straight horizontal distance from any portion of a building housing an adult use, to any part of the other building housing adult use as measured by the Orange Town Engineer.
(2)
No such adult use shall be located within 400 feet of any zoning district which is zoned for residential use. The 400 feet shall be the straight horizontal distance from any portion of a building housing an adult use to any boundary of a zoning district which is zoned for residential use, as measured by the Orange Town Engineer.
(3)
No such adult use shall be located within 1,000 feet of a preexisting school, day-care facility, recreational facility for children, or place of worship. The 1,000 feet shall be the straight horizontal distance, as measured by the Orange Town Engineer, from any portion of a building housing an adult use to the property line of a building housing a school, day-care facility, recreational facility for children or place of worship.
§ 383-146.1 Zoning districts.
No such adult use shall be located in arty zoning district except in the Commercial C-2 Zone by special permit in accordance with Article XIV.
§ 383-146.2 Required layout.
A.
Every adult-oriented establishment shall be well-lighted at all times and be physically arranged in such a manner that the entire interior portion of any booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls, where adult entertainment is provided, shall be clearly visible from the common areas of the premises. Visibility into such booths, cubicles, rooms, or stalls shall not be blocked or obscured by doors, curtains, partitions, drapes, or any other obstruction whatsoever. There shall be no areas to secluded viewing of adult-oriented motion pictures or any other types of adult entertainment.
B.
Any room or other area used for the purpose of viewing adult entertainment shall be well-lighted and readily accessible at all times and shall-be continuously open to view in its entirety. The premises shall be equipped with overhead lighting fixtures of sufficient intensity to illuminate every place to which patrons, clients or customers are permitted access at the illumination of not less than one footcandle as measured at the floor level.
§ 383-147 Exterior display.
No adult use shall be conducted in any manner that permits the observation of any material depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas from any public way or from any property not registered as an adult use. This provision shall apply to any display, decoration, sign, show window or other opening.
§ 383-148 Registration.
A.
The owner of a building or premises, his/her agent for the purposes of managing, controlling, or collecting rents, or any other person managing or controlling a building or premises, any part of which contains an adult use, shall register with the Zoning Enforcement Officer the following information:
(1)
The address of the premises.
(2)
The name of the owner of the premises and names of the beneficial owners if the property is in a land trust
(3)
The address(es) of the owner and the beneficial owners.
(5)
The name(s) of the owner, beneficial owner of the major stock holders of the business or the establishment subject to the provisions of Subsection A(3).
(7)
The date of initiation of the adult use.
(8)
If the building or premises is leased, a copy of the lease shall be attached.
B.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or person in control of any property to establish or operate thereon or to permit any person to establish or operate any adult use without first having properly registered and received certification of approved registration; preexisting adult uses prior to the effective date of this regulation shall register within 10 days of the effective date of this regulation.
§ 383-148.1 Severability.
The provisions of these adult use regulations are declared severable, to the maximum extent permitted by law. If any provision or provisions of these establishment regulations or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unlawful, it is the intent of the Commission that said invalidity shall not affect other provisions or these regulations, which shall remain in frill force and effect as if such portion so declared invalid or unlawful were not originally part of these regulations, even if the surviving parts of the Regulations result in greater restrictions after any unlawful provisions are stricken.