West Hartford City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IX
Adult-Oriented Businesses
§ 177-68 Statement of intent.
The Town Council of the Town of West Hartford, Connecticut finds that:
A.
Adult-oriented establishments in the Town of West Hartford require special supervision from the Town's public safety agencies in order to protect and preserve the health, safety and welfare of the Town's citizens.
B.
The continued unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments, including, without limitation, those specifically cited at Subsection B, including, without limitation, those specifically cited at Subsection B hereof, is and would be detrimental to the general welfare, health and safety of the citizens of West Hartford and especially its youth.
C.
The Constitution and 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 as hereinafter defined in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
D.
It is not the intent of the Town Council, in enacting this article, to deny any person's rights to speech protected by the United States and/or state constitutions, nor is it the intent of the Council to impose any additional limitations or restrictions on the contents of any communicative materials, including sexually-oriented films, videotapes, books and/or other materials. Further, by enacting this chapter, the Town Council does not intend to deny or restrict the rights of any adult to obtain and/or view any sexually-oriented materials protected by the United States and/or State Constitutions, nor constitutionally protected rights that distributors or exhibitors of such sexually-oriented materials may have to sell, distribute or exhibit such materials.
§ 177-69 Definitions.
For the purpose of Chapter 177, inclusive, the words and phrases used herein shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise clearly indicated by the context:
Includes any amusement machine that is regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation by patrons therein.
An establishment having a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade in books, films, video cassettes or magazines 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, as defined below, and in conjunction therewith has facilities for the presentation of adult entertainment, as defined below, and including adult-oriented films, movies or live entertainment, for observation by patrons therein.
Includes any exhibition of any adult-oriented motion pictures, videos, 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 areas, removal of articles of clothing or appearing unclothed, pantomime, modeling or any other personal services offered customers.
An enclosed building with a capacity of less than 50 persons regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation by patrons therein.
An enclosed building with a capacity of 50 or more persons regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation by patrons therein.
Includes, without limitation, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture theaters, adult video galleries, adult mini-motion-picture theaters and further means any premises to which the public, patrons or members are invited or admitted and wherein an entertainer provides adult entertainment to a member of the public, a patron or a member, when such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained for a profit, direct or indirect, or which premises are so physically 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. 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 studio, rap studio, exotic dance studio, encounter studio, sensitivity studio, modeling studio or any other term of like import.
Includes any machine which, upon the payment of a charge or upon the insertion of a coin, slug, token, plate or disk, may be operated by the public for the use as a game, entertainment or amusement, whether or not registering a score and whether or not electronically operated, and shall include, but not be limited to, such devices as pinball machines, skillball, mechanical grab machines, electronic baseball, football, hockey or basketball machines, any and all air propelled machines or games, pool tables, shooting games, any and all video games and all other games, operations similar thereto under whatever name they may be indicated, including video monitoring machines. This definition shall not apply to those items generally described as jukeboxes or billiard tables or pool tables in billiard or pool parlors solely designated as such and permitted under this chapter.
The Town Council of the Town of West Hartford, Connecticut.
Any and all persons, including independent contractors, who work in or at or render any services directly related to the operation of an adult-oriented establishment.
Any person who provides entertainment within an adult-oriented establishment as defined in this section, whether or not a fee is charged or accepted for entertainment and whether or not entertainment is provided as an employee or independent contractor.
An employee of the Town of West Hartford authorized and designated by the Director of Health or the Zoning Enforcement Officer, or an employee of the West Hartford Building Division or a member of the West Hartford Police Department or the Fire Marshal of the Town of West Hartford, or an agent of any or all of such persons who is designated to inspect premises regulated under this article, and to take the required actions authorized by this article or any other ordinances, state or federal laws in case of violations being found on such premises, and to require corrections of unsatisfactory conditions found on said premises.
Refers to a person under the age of 18 years.
Any person, partnership, corporation or other legal entity operating, conducting or maintaining an adult-oriented establishment.
Is not intended to include any medical publications or films or bona fide educational publication or films, nor does it include 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; nor does this definition apply to any news periodical which reports or describes current events and which, from time to time, publishes photographs of nude or seminude persons in connection with the dissemination of the news; nor does this definition apply to publications or films which describe and report different cultures and which, from time to time, publish or show photographs or depictions of nude or seminude persons when describing cultures in which nudity or semi-nudity is indigenous to the population.
Less than completely and opaquely covered: human genitals; pubic regions; buttocks; female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areola; and human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely opaquely covered.
Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal; acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy; fondling or erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttock or female breasts.
§ 177-70 Operating requirements.
A.
No operator or employee of an adult-oriented establishment shall allow or permit any minor to loiter in any part of such establishment, including parking lots immediately adjacent to such establishment used by patrons or such adult-oriented establishment.
B.
Every adult-oriented establishment doing business in the Town shall be well-lighted at all times and be physically arranged in such a manner that the entire interior portion of the booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls, wherein 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. It shall be unlawful to install enclosed booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls within adult-oriented establishments for whatever purpose, but especially for the purpose of providing for the secluded viewing of adult-oriented motion pictures or other types of adult-oriented entertainment.
C.
The operator of each adult-oriented establishment shall be responsible for and shall provide that any room or other area used for the purpose of viewing adult-oriented motion pictures or other types of live 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 are permitted access as an illumination of not less than one footcandle as measured at the floor level. It shall be the duty of the operator and its agents to ensure that the illumination described above is maintained at all times when any patron is present in the premises.
D.
Every act or omission by an employee constituting a violation of the provisions of this article shall be deemed the act or omission of the operator, if such act or omission occurs either with the express or implied authorization, knowledge or approval of the operator, including any act or omission, as a result of the operator's negligent failure to supervise the employee's conduct; the operator shall be punishable for such act or omission in the same manner as if the operator committed the act or caused the omission.
E.
An operator shall be responsible for the conduct of all employees while on the licensed premises, and any act or omission of any employee constituting a violation of the provisions of this article shall be deemed the act or omission of the operator for purposes of determining whether the operator shall be subject to the penalties imposed by this article.
F.
All adult-oriented establishments shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by the West Hartford Police Department, inspectors employed by the Town and/or the Health District, or such other persons as the Town Council may designate.
§ 177-71 Locational standards.
A.
Adult-oriented establishments shall be permitted in the Town of West Hartford only in the IR, IG and IP Zone Districts established in §§ 177-3 through 177-6 wherein such uses are specifically allowed subject to a special use permit approval by the West Hartford Town Plan and Zoning Commission under the requirements of § 177-42A.
B.
No adult-oriented establishments shall be permitted on any site that is within 1,000 feet from any school, municipal park or recreational facility, place of worship, child day-care center, family day-care home, group day-care home or any area zoned residential.
C.
No adult-oriented establishment shall be permitted on a site that is within 1,000 feet from an existing adult-oriented establishment.
D.
Said distance of 1,000 feet shall be measured by taking the nearest straight line between the respective lot boundaries of said sites.
§ 177-72 Site development standards.
A.
Displays: screenings; inspection. Advertisements, displays or other promotional materials displaying or depicting specified anatomical areas or specific sexual activities shall not be shown or exhibited so as to be visible or audible to the public from adjacent streets, sidewalks or walkways or from other areas outside the establishment; and all building openings, entries and windows for adult-oriented uses shall be located, covered or screened in such manner as to prevent the interior of such premises from being viewed from outside the establishment.
B.
Signs. Signs shall be limited to a maximum total area of one square foot of sign area for each linear foot of building frontage.
C.
Parking. Adult-oriented uses shall comply with the off-street parking standards prescribed in § 177-32 with the additional requirement that one off-street parking space shall be provided for each employee who is employed or intended to be employed when the capacity of the building is in full use.
§ 177-73 Penalties for offenses.
A.
Notwithstanding the fines set forth in § 177-48B, any person, partnership, corporation or other legal entity who is found to have violated this article shall be fined $150 for each such violation.
B.
Each violation of this article shall be considered a separate offense, and any violation continuing more than one hour of time shall be considered a separate offense for each hour of violation.
§ 177-74 Severability.
Should any court of competent jurisdiction declare any section, clause or provision of this article to be unconstitutional, such decision shall affect only such section, clause or provision so declared unconstitutional, and shall not affect any other section, clause or provision of this article.
§ 177-75 When effective.
A.
Section 177-71 shall take effect immediately upon adoption but shall not be applicable to existing adult-oriented establishments.
B.
The remainder of this article shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that operators of existing adult-oriented establishments shall have until six months after adoption to comply with the provisions of § 177-70B and C.[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former Article X, Marijuana Dispensary, Production, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility, added 10-22-2013, which immediately followed this section, was repealed 10-7-2019.