Article 1 — General Provisions

A.

The purpose and intent of Chapter 14.71 is to regulate adult-oriented businesses which, unless closely regulated, tend to have serious secondary effects on the community, including, but not limited to, the following: depreciation of property values, increase in vacancies in residential and commercial areas in the vicinity of adult-oriented businesses, interference with property owners' enjoyment of their properties when such properties are located in the vicinity of adult-oriented businesses, increase in crime, litter, noise, and vandalism in the vicinity of adult-oriented businesses, and blight conditions caused by inadequate

maintenance of commercial premises and parking lots, which thereby have a deleterious effect upon adjacent areas. Special regulation of these businesses is necessary to prevent such adverse secondary effects.

B.

It is neither the intent nor the effect of these regulations to impose limitations or restrictions on the content of any communicative material. Similarly, it is neither the intent nor the effect of these regulations to restrict or deny access by adults to communicative material or to deny access by the distributors or exhibitors of adult material to their intended lawful market.

C.

Nothing in these regulations is intended to authorize, legalize, or permit the establishment, operation, or maintenance of any business, building, or use which violates any city ordinance or any statute of the state regarding public nuisances, unlawful or indecent exposure, sexual conduct, lewdness, obscene or harmful matter or the exhibition or public display thereof.

(Ord. 542 § 2 (part), 1998)

Unless otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

A.

"Adult-oriented businesses" mean and include any one of the following uses, each of which is considered a separate adult-oriented business: adult-oriented arcade, adult-oriented bookstore, adult-oriented cabaret, adult-oriented hotel or motel, adult-oriented live entertainment theater, or adult-oriented motion picture theater as those terms are defined in subsections (A)(1) through (6) of this section.

1.

"Adult-oriented arcade" means any business where, for any form of consideration, one or more still or motion picture machines, projectors, or other image-producing devices, for viewing by five or fewer persons each, are used to show films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions, where thirty percent or more of that inventory or thirty percent or more of the gross revenue is received from materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

2.

"Adult-oriented bookstore" means any business which sells, rents, displays or makes available to members of the public an inventory of books, magazines, periodicals, or other printed matter, photographs, drawings, motion pictures, slides, films, tapes, video cassettes, records, laser disc, or other visual, digital or audio representations, where twenty-five percent or more of that inventory or twenty-five percent or more of the gross revenue is received from, or twenty-five percent or more of the gross floor area consists of books, magazines, periodicals, or other printed matter, photographs, drawings, motion pictures, slides, films, tapes, video cassettes, records, laser disc or other visual, digital or audio representations which describe or depict specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

3.

"Adult-oriented cabaret" means a nightclub, restaurant, or similar business establishment which (1) regularly features live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the display of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, or (2) regularly features persons who appear seminude, or (3) shows films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other photographic or digital reproductions thirty percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

4.

"Adult-oriented hotel or motel" means a hotel or motel or similar business establishment offering public accommodations for any form of consideration which (1) provides patrons with closed-circuit television transmissions, films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other photographic or digital reproductions thirty percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; and (2) rents, leases, or lets any room for less than a six-hour period, or rents, leases, or lets any single room more than twice in a twenty-four hour period.

5.

"Adult-oriented live entertainment theater" means a theater, concert hall, auditorium, or similar establishment which, for any form of consideration, regularly features live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the display of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

6.

"Adult-oriented motion picture theater" means any business, other than a hotel or motel, where, for any form of consideration, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or similar photographic or digital reproductions are shown—for viewing by six or more persons including without limitation the presentation of films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or similar photographic productions by means of a video tape system which utilizes a viewer screen or television set,—and thirty percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

B.

"Distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon" means and refers to the dominant or essential theme of the object described by such phrase. For instance, when the phrase refers to films "which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon" the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, the films so described are those whose dominant or predominant character and theme is the depiction of the enumerated sexual activities or anatomical areas. See, Pringle v. City of Covina, 115 Cal. App.3d 151 (1981).

C.

"Establishment of an Adult-Oriented Business." For purposes of this chapter, to "establish" an adultoriented business means any of the following which occur after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter:

1.

The opening or commencement of any adult-oriented business as a new business;

2.

The conversion of an existing business, whether or not an adult-oriented business, to any other adultoriented business;

3.

The addition of any of the specific adult-oriented businesses defined in subsection A of this section to any other existing adult-oriented business;

4.

The relocation of any adult-oriented business;

5.

The physical expansion of any existing adult-oriented business, "physical expansion" being defined as any increase of more than ten percent of the floor area of the premises containing an adult-oriented business.

D.

"Regularly features" with respect to an adult-oriented live entertainment theater or adult-oriented cabaret means a regular and substantial course of conduct. The fact that live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the display of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities occurs on two or more occasions within a thirty-day period, or on four or more occasions within a one hundred and eighty-day period, to the extent permitted by law shall be deemed to constitute a regular and substantial course of conduct.

E.

"Performer" means any person who is an employee or independent contractor of the adult-oriented business, or any person who, with or without any compensation or other form of consideration, performs live entertainment for patrons of an adult-oriented business.

F.

"Religious institution" means a structure which is used primarily for religious worship and related religious activity.

G.

"School" means any child care facility, or an institution of learning for minors, whether public or private, offering instruction in those courses of study required by the California Education Code and maintained pursuant to standards set by the State Board of Education. This definition includes a nursery school, kindergarten, elementary school, middle or junior high school, senior high school, or any special institution of education, but does not include a vocational or professional institution of higher education, including a community or junior college, college, or university.

H.

"Seminude" means a state of dress in which clothing covers no more than the genitals, pubic region, buttocks, areola of the female breast, as well as portions of the body covered by supporting straps or devices.

I.

"Specified anatomical areas" means and includes any of the following, whether actual or simulated:

1.

Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, vulva, pubic hair, natal cleft, perineum, anus, anal region, buttocks, or the female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola;

2.

Human male genitals in a discernible turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.

J.

"Specified sexual activities" means and includes any of the following:

1.

The fondling or touching of human genitals, pubic regions, buttocks, anus, or female breasts;

2.

Sex acts, actual or simulated, including but not limited to intercourse, oral copulation, or sodomy;

3.

Masturbation, actual or simulated;

Masochism, erotic or sexually oriented torture, or beating or the infliction of pain;

5.

Erotic or lewd touching, lewd fondling, or other lewd contact by a human being with an animal;

6.

Excretory functions as part of, or in connection with, any of the above activities.

K.

"Transfer of ownership or control of an adult-oriented business" means and includes any of the following:

1.

The sale, lease, or sublease of the business;

2.

The transfer of securities or other interests which constitute a controlling interest in the business, whether by sale, exchange, or similar means, with or without consideration;

3.

The establishment of a trust, gift, or other similar legal devise which transfers ownership or control of the business, including the transfer by bequest or other operation of law, upon the death of a person possessing the ownership or control.

(Ord. 542 § 2 (part), 1998)

A.

No person shall operate or establish an adult-oriented business as defined in this code, in any zone of the city except the CPD, CB, M or MRP zones.

B.

No building permit or zoning clearance, business tax receipt, adult-oriented business regulatory permit, or other permit or entitlement for use shall be legally valid if issued to any adult-oriented business proposed to operate or to be established in any zone of the city except in the CPD, CB, M or MRP zones.

C.

In addition to the requirements of obtaining an adult-oriented business regulatory permit, any adult-oriented business proposed to be operated or established in the CPD, CB, M or MRP zones shall be subject to the following restrictions:

1.

No adult-oriented business shall be operated in the same building, structure, or portion thereof containing another adult-oriented business or use as defined in this chapter.

2.

No adult-oriented business shall be established or operated at any location closer than five hundred feet to the following uses:

a.

Any school as defined in Section 14.71.020(F) or any parcel zoned to accommodate school uses;

b.

Any public park, playground, or recreational facility or any parcel zoned to accommodate park, playground, or recreational uses;

c.

Any religious institution as defined in Section 14.71.020(E) or any parcel zoned to accommodate a religious institution;

d.

Another adult-oriented business; or

e.

Any parcel zoned to permit residential uses.

D.

Distance between any two adult-oriented businesses shall be measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures, from the closest property line of each business. Distances between any adultoriented business and any religious institution, school, public park, playground, recreational facility or residentially-zoned parcel shall be measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures, from the closest property line of the adult-oriented business to the closest property line of the religious institution, school, public park, playground, recreational facility or residentially-zoned parcel.

(Ord. 542 § 2 (part), 1998)

A.

Any adult-oriented business lawfully operating on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter in a location in which Section 14.71.030 does not allow an adult-oriented business to be established shall be deemed a nonconforming use and may continue to operate in such location for a period of fourteen months, provided an adult-oriented business regulatory permit is issued for the business as provided in Sections 14.71.050 and 14.71.060. The planning commission may grant one or more one-year extensions of such period on a convincing showing by the permittee of extreme financial hardship, which is defined as the inability of a reasonably prudent operator of the business to recover a reasonable financial investment in the business within the time allowed. "Reasonable financial investment" refers to investment as of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, including any written lease entered into by the permittee before such date and extending more than one year from such date.

B.

An adult-oriented business operating as a nonconforming use may not increase the floor area occupied by the adult-oriented business on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. A nonconforming use shall terminate if voluntarily discontinued for thirty or more consecutive days. However, a nonconforming use may be changed to a conforming use.

C.

An adult-oriented business lawfully operating on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter in a location in which Section 14.71.030 allows an adult-oriented business to be established, is not rendered nonconforming by the location, subsequent to the grant or renewal of an adult-oriented business regulatory permit, of a religious institution, school, public park, playground, recreational facility, or residentially-zoned parcel, within five hundred feet of the adult-oriented business.

D.

If two or more adult-oriented businesses are lawfully operating on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter in locations in which Section 14.71.030 allows adult-oriented businesses to be established are within five hundred feet of one another, the adult-oriented business that was first established and has been in continuous operation at the particular location is deemed the conforming use and the later established business is deemed to be nonconforming.

E.

All adult-oriented businesses operating on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall apply for an adult-oriented business regulatory permit as provided in Section 14.71.060 within thirty days of such effective date. No such adult-oriented business shall continue to operate if the permit is denied.

(Ord. 542 § 2 (part), 1998)

A.

It is unlawful for any person to engage in, conduct or carry on, or to permit to be engaged in, conducted or carried on, on or upon any premises in the city, the operation of an adult-oriented business unless the person first obtains and continues to maintain in full force and effect a permit from the city as herein required. (adult-oriented business regulatory permit)

B.

It is unlawful for any persons to engage in or participate in any live performance depicting specified anatomical areas or involving specified sexual activities in any adult-oriented business unless the person first obtains and continues in full force and effect a permit from the city as herein required. (adult-oriented business performer permit)

(Ord. 542 § 2 (part), 1998)