§ 8-79. Intent.

(a)

In enacting this article, the county quorum court makes the following statement of intent and findings:

(1)

Adult entertainment establishments require special supervision from the public safety agencies within the county, the respective cities or towns and the state in order to protect and preserve the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the patrons and employees of the businesses as well as the citizens of the county.

(2)

The county quorum court finds that adult entertainment establishments are frequently used for unlawful sexual activities, including prostitution and sexual liaisons of a casual nature.

(3)

The concern over sexually transmitted diseases is a legitimate health concern of the county that demands reasonable regulation of adult entertainment establishments by the county in the specified manner and expanded authority for reasonable regulation of adult entertainment establishments by local governments, in order to protect the health and well-being of the citizens.

(4)

Minimal regulations enacted by the county are a legitimate and reasonable means of accountability to ensure that operators of adult entertainment establishments comply with reasonable regulations and to ensure that operators do not knowingly allow their establishments to be used as places of illegal sexual activity or solicitation.

(5)

There is convincing documented evidence that adult entertainment establishments, because of their very nature, have a deleterious effect on both the existing businesses around them and the surrounding residential areas adjacent to them, cause increased crime, particularly in the overnight hours, and downgrade property values.

(6)

The county quorum court desires to minimize and control these adverse effects by regulating adult entertainment establishments in the specified manner and by minimizing and controlling these adverse effects, the county quorum court seeks to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry; protect the citizens from increased crime; preserve the quality of life; preserve the property values and character of surrounding neighborhoods; and deter the spread of urban blight.

(7)

The county quorum court has determined that current local zoning and other locational criteria do not adequately protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of the county and that expanded regulation of adult entertainment establishments is necessary.

(8)

It is not the intent of the county quorum court in enacting this article to suppress or authorize the suppression of any speech activities protected by the First Amendment, but to enact content-neutral statutes that address the secondary effects of adult entertainment establishments.

(9)

It is not the intent of the county quorum court to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material, and the county quorum court recognizes that state and federal law prohibits the distribution of obscene materials and expects and encourages state law enforcement officials to enforce state obscenity statutes against any such illegal activities in this state.

(b)

It is the intent of the county quorum court in enacting this article to regulate in the specified manner, adult entertainment establishments in order to promote the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the citizens of the county and establish reasonable regulations to prevent the deleterious secondary effects of adult entertainment establishments within the county. The provisions of this article have neither the purpose nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content of any communicative materials, including sexually oriented materials. Similarly, it is not the intent of the county quorum court in enacting this article to restrict or deny, or authorize the restriction or denial of, access by adults to sexually oriented materials protected by the First Amendment, or to deny, or authorize the denial of; access by the distributors and exhibitors of adult entertainment and adult materials to their intended market. Neither is it the intent nor effect of the county quorum court in enacting this article to condone or legitimize the distribution or exhibition of obscene material.

(c)

It is the further purpose of this article to protect the well-being of the youth of the community from objectionable operational characteristics of these adult uses by regulating and restricting their close proximity to established facilities such as, but not limited to, churches, parks, schools, and residential areas.

(d)

This article represents a balancing of the legitimate ends of the county by imposing an incidental, content-neutral place, time, and manner regulation of sexually oriented businesses without limiting alternative avenues of communication, and at the same time, requiring the business to carry its share of financial law enforcement activities. The special regulations deemed necessary to control the undesirable effects arising from these enterprises are set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2010-O-23, § 2, exh. A(1), 4-1-2010)