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PCRES 1995-029PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION 95-029 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING TO THE CITY COUNCIL REVOKING OF ORDINANCE 267 AND ADOPTING A REVISED NEW CHAPTER 5.80 TO THE CODE OF THE CITY OF LA QUINTA, AMENDING CHAPTER 9.154, TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LA QUINTA. CASE NO.: ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT 95-046 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of La Quinta did on the 11th day of July, 1995, hold aduly-noticed public hearing to consider the proposed Zoning; Ordinance Amendment; and WHEREAS, the Planniing Commission of the City of La Quinta wishes to promote the City of La Quinta's great interest in protecting and preserving the quality of the residential and commercial azeas of the City, and the quality of life through effective land use planning; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission and staff have conducted an extensive review of land use studies concerning the secondary effects of Adult entertainment establishments in other cities including, but not limited to, Ciazden Grove, California (1991); Phoenix, Arizona (1986); Minneapolis, Minnesota (1980); Houston, Texas (1983); Indianapolis, Indiana (1984); Amarillo, Texas (1977); City of Los Angeles, California (1977); Cleveland, Ohio (1977); Austin, Texas (1986); Seattle, Washington (1989); Oklahoma City (1986); Beaumont, Texas (1982); and Whittier, California (1978); have conducted its own, surveys and questionnaires of real estate appraisers, business persons in La Quinta; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of La Quinta believes the following statements aze true, in part based upon its understanding of the experiences of the cities referenced above: A. Crime rates are higher in residential areas surrounding Adult Oriented Businesses than in commercial or industrial areas surrounding Adult Oriented Businesses; B. Areas within close proximity of single and multiple family dwellings should be free of Adult Oriented Businesses; C. Adult Oriented Businesses should not be located in azeas of the City which aze in the vicinity of residential uses, religious iinstitutions, parks and schools; RESOPC. I66 D. The image of the City of La Quinta as a pleasant and attractive place to reside will be adversely affected by the presence of Adult Oriented Businesses in close proximity to residential uses, religious institutions, parks and schools; E. The existence of Adult Oriented Businesses in close proximity to residential areas has been shown in some cities to reduce the property values in those residential areas; F. The Planning Commission believes that allowing Adult Oriented Businesses in the City's AE Overlay Zone is appropriate because the zone includes ample accessible real estate including acreage in all stages of development from raw land to developed and shopping space that is easily accessible by freeways, highways and roads. Limiting Adult Oriented Businesses to the AE Overlay Zone is further justified based on the fact that Adult Oriented Businesses have been shown to reduce property values and decrease the patronage of those businesses in close proximity to the Adult Oriented Businesses; Ci. Without the adoption off this Ordinance, Adult Oriented Businesses might be able to locate anywhere within the City by right, requiring no permit other than a business license to operate: H. A reasonable regulation of the location of Adult Oriented Businesses protects the image of the community and its property values and protects its residents from the adverse secondary effects of such Adult Oriented Businesses, while providing those who desire to patronize Adult Oriented Businesses an opportunity to do so inappropriate areas within the City; I. Regulations for Adult Oriented Businesses should be developed to prevent deterioration and/or degradation of the vitality of the community before the problem exists, rather than waiting for a problem to be created; J. Adult Oriented Businesses should be regulated by developing zoning which will separate such land uses from other incompatible uses; K. Crime rates significantly increase when Adult Oriented Businesses are established within close proximity to other Adult Oriented Businesses. L. The Planning Commi:>sion believes that prohibiting public nudity will, to some extent, reduce those secondary effects shown to be created, in part, by Adult Oriented. Businesses which provide ro permit public nudit}~. WHEREAS, concern over sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, is a legitimate health concern of the City which demands reasonable regulations of Adult Oriented Businesses in order to protect the health and well being of the citizens; and WHEREAS, the City recognizes the possible harmful effects on children and minors exposed to the effects of such businesses and the deterioration of respect for family values, and the need and desire of children and minors to stay away from and avoid such businesses, which causes children to be fearful and cautious when walking through or visiting in the immediate neighborhood of such businesses; and ItESOPC. l66 2 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission desires to minimize and control these adverse secondary effects and thereby protect. the health, safety and welfaze of the citizens; protect the citizens from the increased crime; preserve the quality of life; preserve the property values and the chazacter of surrounding neighborhoods and businesses, deter the spread of urban blight and protect against the threat to health from the spread of communicable and sexually transmitted diseases; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has determined that locational criteria alone do not adequately protect health, safety and general welfare of the people of the Ci1:y and thus imposition of certain requirements wi1:h respect to the ownership and operation of Adult Oriented Businesses is in the public interest; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission, consistent with limitations on the sale of alcohol and mindful of the time most bars and similar establishments close, further finds that restricted hours of operation will further prevent the adverse secondary effects of Adult Oriented Businesses; and WHEREAS, it is not the intent of the Planning Commission to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene material, and the Commission recognizes that State law prohibits the distribution of obscene materials and expects and encourages law enforcement, and State and local enforcement officials to enforce State obscenity statutes against such illegal activities in the City; and WHEREAS, the aforementioned studies show that sex-related offenses are included within the category of secondary effects caused by unregulated or under regulated Adult Oriented Businesses; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission believes that persons who have been convicted ofsex-related offenses have shown a propensity to commit such offenses and should not be permitted to operate Adult Oriented Businesses for two (2) years after such conviction. This is because the sexually oriented nature of the business creates an increased opportunity for the commission ofsex-related offenses by persons who have exhibited a propensity for the commission of such offenses; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission believes as true, the documents and judicial decisions in the public record established and submitted in conjunction with this Ordinance which demonstrate that various operational practices of Adult Oriented Businesses (as that term is defined in Section 5.80.020 of the La Quinta Municipal Code) increase criminal activity, including but not limited to sexually related criminal activity, and increase the likelihood of the transmission of diseases including but not limited to sexually transmitted diseases such as gonon•he~a, syphilis, herpes, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome ("AIDS") and hepatitis-B; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission believes the following statements are true, in part, based upon its understanding of the documents and judicial decisions in the public record; aESOrc. i66 3 A. Evidence indicates that some dancers, models, entertainers, and other persons who publicly perform Specified Sexual Activities or publicly display Specified Anatomical Parts in Adult Oriented Businesses (as those terms are defined in Section 5.80.020) (collectively referred to as "Performers"), have been found to engage in sexual activities with patrons of Adult Oriented Businesses on the site of the Adult Oriented Business; B. Evidence has demonstrated that Performers employed by Adult Oriented Businesses have been found to offer and provide private shows to patrons who, for a price, aze permitted to observe and participate with the Performers in live sex shows; C. Evidence indicates that Performers at Adult Oriented Businesses have been found to engage in acts of prostitution with patrons of the establishment; D. Evidence indicates that: fully enclosed booths, individual viewing areas, and other small rooms whose interior cannot ba: seen from public areas of the establishment ("Individual Viewing Areas") regularly have been found to be used as a location for engaging in unlawful sexual activity; E. Many Individual Viewing Areas have been found to contain "glory holes" in the walls joining abutting Individual Viewing Areas which are used by customers to facilitate sexual activity between the occupants of the abutting Individual Viewing Areas; F. Individual Viewing Arf;as have been found to be unsanitary due to the existence of semen, saliva, and blood on the walls and floors of the Individual Viewing Areas; G. Medical science has found that: (1) certain Sexually Transmitted Disease ("STD") have a potential life span of 2-3 hours outside the human body; (2) the existence of certain bodily fluids on the walls and floors of the ]ndividual Viewing Areas can facilitate the transmission of STDs; and (3) the practice of individuals having anonymous and/or unprotected sexual relations in Individual Viewing Areas can facilitate the transmission of STDs; H. Poorly lit or unlit areas of Adult Oriented Businesses provide a location for people to engage in illegal sexual activities; I. Police agencies have determined that some Adult Oriented Businesses and the operators thereof have been found to be directly engaged in (as well as aid and abet) criminal and illegal sexual activity. Such individuals also have been known to use aliases; J. Many jurisdictions have found that Adult Oriented Businesses generate excessive noise and disorderly conduct, particularly at the closing time of the Adult Oriented Business, which creates an adverse noise and public safety impact on surrounding businesses and communities; and xESOrc. ~ 66 4 K. Evidence indicates that: some dancers, models, entertainers, and other persons who publicly perform Specific Sexual Activities or publicly display Specific Anatomical Parts in Adult Oriented Businesses (as those terms aze defined in Section 5.80.020) (collectively referred to as "Adult Entertainers") have been found to engage in sexual activities with patrons of Adult Oriented Businesses on the site of the Adult Oriented Businesses; L. Evidence has demonstrated that Performers employed by Adult Oriented Businesses have been found to offer and provide private shows to patrons who, for a price, aze permitted to observe and participate with the Performers in live sex shows; M. Evidence indicates that Performers at Adult Oriented Businesses have been found to engage in acts of prostitution with patrons of the establishment. WHEREAS, the experiences of the cities of Palm Springs and Huntington Beach, California, indicate that disorderly conduct is likely to occur when crowds which ate under the influence of alcohol become involved in sexually oriented activities; and WHEREAS, while the Planning Commission desires to protect the rights of those who provide adult oriented entertainment, it desires to do so in a manner which decreases, to the greatest extent feasible, the undesirablle secondary effects associated with such entertainment; and WHEREAS, based upon the evidence contained in the documents, judicial opinions, and other public records, a copy of which are on file in the Community Development Department, the Planning Commission finds as follows: A. The City has an interest in ensuring that individuals who operate Adult Oriented Businesses have not been convicted of certain criminal offenses, particularly sexually related offenses. The application requirements contained in Chapter 5.80.030 of the La Quinta Municipal Code further that interest; B. Requiring the presence of one (1) security guazd for every 50 patrons at Adult Oriented Businesses providing live entertainment is likely to reduce the disorderly conduct and illegal activity observed to occur at Adult Oriented Businesses in other jurisdictions; C. Requiring Adult Oriented Businesses to close at 1:00 a.m. is likely to reduce the eazly morning criminal activity occurring at and near Adult Oriented Businesses and is likely to eliminate the existence of excessive noise and disorderly conduct in and azound the community in the eazly hours of the morning; D. The requirement that P,dult Oriented Businesses only allow performances which aze chazacterized by Specified Sexual Acts or future Specified Anatomical Parts such that patrons not be permitted within 6 feet of the Performers is likely to reduce the opportunities for illegal sexual activity to occur between Performers and patrons, and is particulazly likely to reduce the opportunity for such illegal sexual activity to occur at the Adult Oriented Business; aESOC~c.c66 5 E. Requiring Performers in Individual Viewing Areas to be completely sepazated from patrons by a floor to ceiling plexiglass or other cleaz, permanent barrier is likely to reduce the opportunity for illegal sexual activity to occur between Performers and patrons and reduce the possibility of the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases between Performers and patrons; F. Requiring the entire interior portion of Individual Viewing Areas to be visible from aisles and public azeas of the Adult Oriented Business is likely to reduce the opportunity for illegal sexual activity to occur within the Individual Viewing Area; G. Requiring azeas within .Adult Oriented Businesses to be minimally illuminated to the standards contained in Chapter 5.80 is likely to reduce the opportunity for the occurrence of illegal sexual activity in dark portions of Adult Oriented Businesses; H. Prohibiting any physical contact between Performers and patrons of Adult Oriented Businesses is likely to reduce the opportunity for the occurrence of illegal sexual activity between patrons and Performers; L Prohibiting holes or openings between the interior spaces of Individual Viewing Areas is likely to reduce the opportunity for the occurrence of illegal sexual activity between the occupants of Individual Viewing Areas; J. Prohibiting the occupancy of more than one person in an Individual Viewing Area at any time is likely to reduce the opportunity for the Individual Viewing Area to be used for illegal sexual activity; K. Prohibiting patrons of Adult Oriented Businesses from offering payments or gratuities and prohibiting Performers from acee,pting the same is likely to reduce the opportunity for illegal sexual activity to occur between patrons and Performers; and L. Prohibiting nudity in Adult Oriented Business establishments tends to reduce the secondary effects, which include the proliferation of prostitution, the increase in sexual assaults and increase in other crimes; and WHEREAS, while the Planning Commission of the City of La Quinta desires to protect the rights conferred by the United States Constitution to Adult Oriented Businesses, it does so in a manner that ensures the continued and orderly development of property within the City and diminishes, to the greatest extent feasible, those undesirable secondary effects which the aforementioned studies have shown to be associated with the development and operation of Adult Oriented Businesses; and WHEREAS, it is not the intent of the Planning Commission by recommending adoption of this Ordinance to suppress any activities protected by the First Amendment, but rather to enact a content neutral Ordinance which addresses the secondary effects Adult Oriented Businesses have on the City; and RESOPC.166 s WHEREAS, the City staff has determined, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), that the proposed Municipal Code amendments are exempt under CEQA Regulations and recommends filing a iVotice of Exemption; and WHEREAS, the City lras previously adopted an Adult Oriented Business zoning ordinance in 1992, and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission has considered the decisions of the United States Supreme Court regazding local regulation of sexually oriented businesses, including but not limited to Young v. American Mini-Theaters. Inc., 427 U.S. 50 (1976) reh. denied 429 U.S. 873; Renton v. Playtime Theaters, 475 U.S. 41 (1986) reh. denied 475 U.S. 1132; FW/PBS. Inc. v. Dallas, 493 U.S. 215 (1990); Barnes v. Glen 7~"heater, 111 S. Ct., 2456 (June 21, 1991); and WHEREAS, since that 4ime the courts have decided Smith v. County of Los Angeles (1994) 211 Ca1.App.3d ]88; Tonanea Press v. City of Los Angeles (C.A. 9, Cal. 1994) 989 F.2d 1524; and Dease v. City of Anaheim (C.D. Cal.) 826 F.Supp. 336, all of which collectively call into question some provisions of the City's Adult Oriented Business zoning ordinance; and WHEREAS, in Barnes v. Glen Theaters. Inc. (1991) 501 U.S. , 1 l5 L.Ed, 2d 504, the court found it to be constitutionally permissible to prohibit public nudity, including public nudity within Adult Oriented Business establishments, in part due to the secondary effects associated with public nudity in Adult Oriented Business establishments which secondary effects include, but aze not limited to, the increase in prostitution, increase in sexual assaults, and the attraction of other criminal activity; and WHEREAS, prior to recommending the adoption of this Ordinance, the Planning Commission reviewed detailed studies prepazed by other jurisdictions regarding the detrimental social and economic effects on persons and properties immediately surrounding established Adult Oriented Businesses which include Adult Oriented Business establishments which permit and/or provide public nudity or the performance by persons who disrobe to the point of only being clad in pasties and a "G" string; and WHEREAS, without a proper Adult Oriented Business zoning ordinance in place, an Adult Oriented Business could legally be permitted to operate in the absence of any regulations, causing the City and its people to incur the secondary effects associated with the operation of such businesses as discussed above; WHEREAS, the City has recently received inquiries regazding the establishment of Adult Oriented Businesses in the City's AE Overlay Zone as well as in areas adjacent to school uses; and WHEREAS, the City has continued to studying the adoption of a new Adult Oriented Business Zoning Ordinance and has sent out and received questionnaires and public comment related to additional revisions to the regulations of Adult Oriented Businesses; and RESOPC.166 7 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of La Quinta, California, as follows: 1 That the above recitations aze true and correct and constitute the findings of the Commission for this Amendment. 2. That it does hereby recommend approval of Zoning Ordinance Amendment 95-046 for the reasons set forth in this resolwtion and as stated in Exhibit "A" on file in the Community Development Department. PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED at a regulaz meeting of the La Quinta Planning Commission held on this I 1 th day of July, 1995, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Commissioners Adolph, Anderson, Butler, Newkirk, and Vice Chairman Gazdner NOES: None ABSENT: Commissioners Abels and Barrows ABSTAIN: None J,9~CQUE~i ABELS, Chairman ity of a Quinta, California ?RMAN, Community Development Director Quinta, California RPSOPC.166