Redwood City Municipal Code Art. III Facilities and Employees

Sexually oriented businesses and sexually oriented performances shall comply with the following requirements corresponding to such businesses or activities:

A. Maximum occupancy load, fire exits, aisles and fire suppression equipment shall be regulated, designed and provided in accordance with the Fire Department and building regulations and standards adopted by the City.

B. No sexually oriented business shall be operated in any manner that permits the observation of any material or activities depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas from any public right-of-way or from any location outside the building or area of such establishment. This provision shall apply to any display, decoration, sign, show window or other opening. No exterior door or window on the premises shall be propped or kept open at any time while the business is open, and any exterior windows shall be covered with opaque covering at all times.

C. All off-street parking areas and premises entries of a sexually oriented business shall be illuminated from dusk to closing hours of operation with a lighting system which provides an average maintained horizontal illumination of one foot-candle of light on the parking surface and walkways. The required lighting level is established in order to provide sufficient illumination of the parking areas and walkways serving the sexually oriented business for the personal safety of patrons and employees and to reduce the incidence of vandalism and criminal conduct. The lighting shall be shown on the required site plan of the premises.

D. The premises within which the sexually oriented business is located shall provide sufficient sound-absorbing insulation so that noise generated inside said premises shall not be audible anywhere on any adjacent property or public right-of-way or within any other building or other separate unit within the same building.

E. Except for those businesses also regulated by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a sexually oriented business shall be open for business only between the hours of eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. and twelve o'clock (12:00) midnight on any given day.

F. The building entrance to a sexually oriented business shall be clearly and legibly posted with a notice indicating that persons under eighteen (18) years of age are prohibited from entering the premises. Said notice shall be constructed and posted to the satisfaction of the Zoning Administrator. No person under the age of eighteen (18) years shall be permitted within the premises at any time.

G. All indoor areas of the sexually oriented business within which patrons are permitted, except restrooms, shall be open to view by the management at all times.

H. Any sexually oriented business which is also an adult arcade shall comply with the following provisions:

1. The interior of the premises shall be designed in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view from a manager's station to every area of the premises to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose, excluding restrooms. Restrooms shall not contain video production equipment. If the premises has two (2) or more manager's stations designated, then the interior of the premises shall be designed in such a manner to provide an unobstructed view of each area of the premises to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose from at least one of the manager's stations. The view required pursuant to this subsection shall be in direct line of sight from the manager's station.

2. The view area specified in subsection H1 of this Section shall remain unobstructed by any doors, walls, merchandise, display racks, or other materials at all times. No patron is permitted access to any area of the premises which has been designated as an area in which patrons will not be permitted.

3. No viewing room may be occupied by more than one person at any one time.

4. The walls or partitions between viewing rooms or booths shall be maintained in good repair at all times, with no holes between any two (2) such rooms such as would allow viewing from one booth into another or such as to allow physical contact of any kind between the occupants of any two (2) such booths or rooms.

5. Customers, patrons or visitors who are not actively engaged in shopping for, or reviewing the products available on display, shall not be allowed to stand idly by in the vicinity of any video booths, or remain in the common area of such businesses, other than for the use of restrooms. Signs prohibiting loitering shall be posted in prominent places in and near the video booths.

6. The floors, seats, walls and other interior portions of all video booths shall be maintained clean and free from waste and bodily secretions. Presence of human excrement, urine, semen or saliva in any such booths shall be evidence of improper maintenance and inadequate sanitary controls; instances of such conditions may justify suspension or revocation of the sexually oriented business regulatory permit for the premises.

I. All areas of the sexually oriented business shall be illuminated in accordance with the following table; provided that such illumination shall require minimal maintenance and be evenly distributed at ground level:

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J. Every sexually oriented business shall provide and maintain separate restroom facilities for male patrons and employees, and female patrons and employees. Male patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the restroom(s) for females, and female patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the restroom(s) for males, except to carry out duties of repair, maintenance and cleaning of the restroom facilities. The restrooms shall be maintained free from any stocks or materials maintained by the establishment for sale ("Adult Material"). Restrooms shall not contain television monitors or other motion picture or video projection, recording or reproduction equipment. The foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a sexually oriented business that deals exclusively with sale or rental of adult material which is not used or consumed on the premises, such as an adult bookstore or adult video store, and which does not provide restroom facilities to its patrons or the general public.

K. The following additional requirements shall pertain to sexually oriented businesses providing live entertainment depicting specified sexual activities, except for businesses regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission:

1. No person shall perform live entertainment for patrons of a sexually oriented business except upon a stage at least eighteen inches (18″) above the level of the floor which is separated by a distance of at least ten feet (10′) from the nearest area occupied by patrons, and no patron shall be permitted within ten feet (10′) of the stage while the stage is occupied by a performer.

2. The sexually oriented business shall provide separate dressing room facilities for performers that are exclusively dedicated to the performer's use.

3. The sexually oriented business shall provide an entrance/exit for performers which is separate from the entrance/exit used by patrons.

4. The sexually oriented business shall provide access for performers between the stage and the dressing rooms which is completely separated from the patrons. If such separate access is not physically feasible, the sexually oriented business shall provide a minimum three foot (3′) wide walk aisle for performers between the dressing room area and the stage, with a railing, fence or other barrier separating the patrons and the performers.

5. No performer either before, during or after performances, shall make physical contact with any patron and no patron shall make physical contact with any performer either before, during or after performances by such performer. This subsection shall only apply to physical contact on the premises of the sexually oriented business.

6. Fixed rail(s) at least thirty inches (30″) in height shall be maintained establishing the separations between performers and patrons required by this subsection.

7. No patron shall directly pay, or give any gratuity, to any performer and no performer shall solicit any pay or gratuity from any patron.

8. No owner or other person with managerial control over a sexually oriented business shall permit any person on the premises of the sexually oriented business to engage in a live showing of the human male or female genitals in a discernibly turgid state. This provision may not be complied with by applying an opaque covering simulating the appearance of the specified anatomical part that is required to be covered.

L. Sexually oriented businesses shall employ security guards in order to maintain the public peace and safety, based upon the following standards:

1. Sexually oriented businesses featuring live entertainment shall provide at least one security guard at all times while the business is open. If the occupancy limit of the premises is greater than thirty-five (35) persons, an additional security guard shall be on duty.

2. Security guards for other sexually oriented businesses may be required if it is determined by the Police Chief that their presence is necessary in order to prevent any of the conduct listed in section 18B.11B2 of this Chapter from occurring on the premises.

3. Security guards shall be charged with preventing violations of law and enforcing compliance by patrons of the requirements of these regulations. Security guards shall be uniformed in such a manner so as to be readily identifiable as a security guard by the public and shall be duly licensed as a security guard as required by applicable provisions of State law. No security guard required pursuant to this subsection shall act as a door person, ticket seller, ticket taker, admittance person, or sole occupant of the manager's station while acting as a security guard.

The foregoing applicable requirements of this Section shall be deemed conditions of sexually oriented business regulatory permit approvals, and failure to comply with every such requirement shall be grounds for revocation of the permit issued pursuant to these regulations.

(Ord. No. 2141, § 2, 5-11-1998)

Every permittee of a sexually oriented business which provides live entertainment depicting specified anatomical areas or involving specified sexual activities shall maintain a register of all persons so performing on the premises and their permit numbers. Such register shall be available for inspection during regular business hours by any police officer or health officer of the City.

(Ord. No. 2141, § 2, 5-11-1998)

A. Every sexually oriented business shall display at all times during business hours the regulatory permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter for such business in a conspicuous place so that the same may be readily seen by all persons entering the premises thereof.

B. The Zoning Administrator shall provide each sexually oriented business performer required to have a permit pursuant to this Chapter, with an identification card containing the name, address, photograph and permit number of such performer.

C. A sexually oriented business performer shall have such card available for inspection at all times during which such person is on the premises of the sexually oriented business at which said performer performs.

(Ord. No. 2141, § 2, 5-11-1998)

A. It shall be unlawful for any permittee, operator, or other person in charge of any sexually oriented business to employ, or provide any service for which it requires such permit, to any person who is not at least eighteen (18) years of age.

B. It shall be unlawful for any permittee, operator or other person in charge of any sexually oriented business to permit to enter, or remain within the sexually oriented business, any person who is not at least eighteen (18) years of age.

(Ord. No. 2141, § 2, 5-11-1998)