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ORD 593 Section 5.80.060 Remove Dark Sky Ord Ref ORDINANCE NO. 593 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 5.80.060 OF THE LA QUINTA MUNICIPAL CODE REMOVING REFERENCES TO A DARK SKY ORDINANCE WHEREAS, Section 5.80.060 of the La Quinta Municipal Code (LQMC) regulates sexually oriented businesses within the City, including parking lot lighting requirements; and WHEREAS, the City has the authority to regulate businesses operating within the City; and WHEREAS, the proposed amendments are to remove references in the LQMC to a “dark sky ordinance,” which is used colloquially for reference to the City’s limits on street and parking lot lighting so as to reduce ambient light and glare interfering with the desert sky at night, but is not an official title of any City ordinance. NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of La Quinta does ordain as follows: SECTION 1. Section 5.80.060 shall be amended as written in "Exhibit A" attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. SECTION 2. Corrective Amendments: The City Council does hereby grant the City Clerk the ability to make minor amendments and corrections of typographical or clerical errors to "Exhibit A" to ensure consistency of all approved text amendments prior to the publication in the La Quinta Municipal Code. SECTION 3. Posting: The City Clerk shall, within 15 days after passage of this Ordinance, cause it to be posted in at least three public places designated by resolution of the City Council, shall certify to the adoption and posting of this Ordinance, and shall cause this Ordinance and its certification, together with proof of posting to be entered into the Book of Ordinances of the City of La Quinta. SECTION 4. Effective Date: This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its adoption. Ordinance No. 593 Amendments to Section 5.80.060 Removing Dark Sky Ordinance Reference Adopted: May 4, 2021 Page 4 of 9 Chapter 5.80 SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES 5.80.060 Findings—Requirements. The city shall issue a sexually oriented business permit within the later of forty days of receipt of a completed application or ten days from receipt of the complete investigation report in Section 5.80.050 if it finds that: A. The sexually oriented business shall be located in the city’s SOB overlay zone zoning districts.* * The distance of separation required by subsections B through F of this section shall be made by using a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest external structural wall of the proposed sexually oriented business to the nearest property line of the lot upon which is located a residential use, religious institution, park, recreation area, public building, family-oriented restaurant or school. The measurement taken when the proposed use is located on the same lot as an already existing sexually oriented business, shall be the distance between the two shall be measured in a straight line between the nearest external structural walls of each use without regard to intervening structures or objects. No request for subdivision, reparcelization or lot line adjustment shall be approved where the primary purpose is to avoid the intent of these distance requirements. B. The sexually oriented business shall not be located within seven hundred fifty feet of any residential zone. C. The sexually oriented business shall not be located within one thousand five hundred feet of a school. “School” means institutions for teaching or caring for minor children, e.g., child care facilities, preschool, day schools, elementary schools, secondary schools, high schools; and institutions of higher learning receiving approved graduates of preparatory school, and offering instructions in art, letters and science, leading to the bachelor’s degree or master’s degree (e.g., colleges and universities). D. The sexually oriented business shall not be located within one thousand five hundred feet of any lot upon which there is properly located a public park, recreation area or public building; nor within one thousand feet of any lot used by a religious institution for religious activities. E. The sexually oriented business shall not be located within seven hundred fifty feet of any other sexually oriented business including sexually oriented businesses located on the same parcel. In no event may more than one sexually oriented business be located in the same structure. F. The sexually oriented business shall not be located within seven hundred fifty feet of any business involving on-premises sale of liquor or alcoholic beverages, nor shall it be located within seven hundred fifty feet of a family-oriented restaurant. (A “family-oriented restaurant” means any restaurant which provides specific inducement to encourage attendance by children such as: play equipment, promotional toy items, child’s menu separate from regular menu.) G. The sexually oriented business shall not be located within any structure for which a part is within one hundred feet of the ultimate right-of-way of a major, primary or secondary thoroughfare EXHIBIT A Ordinance No. 593 Amendments to Section 5.80.060 Removing Dark Sky Ordinance Reference Adopted: May 4, 2021 Page 5 of 9 as defined in the general plan of the city. For the purpose of this chapter, a property fronts on such a road if the property and any portion of the right-of-way for the road have a contiguous boundary. H. The parking requirements for sexually oriented businesses shall be as follows: 1. Bookstores and retail establishments: One parking space per three hundred square feet of gross floor area; 2. Theaters: One parking space per three seats, if seats are fixed, or one parking space per twenty- four square feet of gross floor area; 3. Cabarets: One parking space per three seats, if seats are fixed, or one parking space per thirty- five square feet of gross floor area; 4. Motion picture arcade: One parking space per individual viewing area plus one parking space per employee; 5. Motel/hotel: One parking space per guest room for first fifty rooms; three-quarters parking space per guest room thereafter. I. The sexually oriented business shall not be located completely or partially within any mobile structure or pushcart. J. The sexually oriented business shall not stage any special events, promotions, festivals, concerts or similar events which would increase the demand for parking beyond the approved number of spaces for the particular use. K. The sexually oriented business shall provide a security system that visually records and monitors all parking lot areas. All indoor areas of the sexually oriented business which are accessible to the public shall be open to public view at all times with the exception of restroom facilities. “Accessible to the public” shall include, but not be limited to, those areas which are only accessible to members of the public who pay a fee and/or join a private club or organization. L. The sexually oriented business complies with the city’s sign regulations. M. The sexually oriented business complies with the development and design requirements of the zone in which it is to be located. N. The sexually oriented business shall not display any sexually oriented material or sexually oriented merchandise which would be visible from any location other than from within the sexually oriented business. O. The sexually oriented business shall not allow admittance to any person under the age of eighteen if no liquor is served, or under the age of twenty-one if liquor is served. P. With the exclusion of sexually oriented hotels, the sexually oriented business shall not operate between the hours of one a.m. and nine a.m. Ordinance No. 593 Amendments to Section 5.80.060 Removing Dark Sky Ordinance Reference Adopted: May 4, 2021 Page 6 of 9 Q. The applicant shall not have been convicted of a crime relating to a specified criminal act for which: 1. Less than two years have elapsed since the date of conviction or the date of release from confinement, whichever is the later date, if the conviction is of a misdemeanor offense for “specified criminal acts”; 2. Less than five years have elapsed since the date of conviction or the date of release from confinement, whichever is the later date, if the conviction is of a felony offense for “specified criminal acts”; 3. Less than five years have elapsed since the date of conviction or the date of release from confinement, whichever is the later date, if the convictions are of two or more misdemeanors for “specified criminal acts” occurring within any twenty-four-month period; 4. The fact that a conviction is being appealed shall have no effect on disqualification of the applicant; 5. An applicant who has been convicted of the above may qualify for a sexually oriented business permit only when the time period required above in this section has elapsed. R. The sexually oriented business shall provide separate restroom facilities for male and female patrons. The restrooms shall be free from sexually oriented materials and sexually oriented merchandise. Only one person shall be allowed in the restroom at any time, unless otherwise required by law, in which case the sexually oriented business shall employ a restroom attendant of the same sex as the restroom users who shall be present in the restroom during operating hours. The attendant shall prevent any person(s) from engaging in any specified sexual activities within the restroom and shall ensure that no person of the opposite sex is permitted in the restroom. S. The interior of the sexually oriented business which has individual viewing areas, shall be configured such that there is unobstructed view using the naked eye, unaided by any other devices, of every public area of the premises, including, but not limited to, the interior of all individual viewing areas, from a permanent security station physically demarked in the establishment which is no larger than thirty-two square feet of floor area with no single dimension being greater than eight feet in a public portion of the establishment. No public area, including, but not limited to, the interior of any individual viewing area, shall be obscured by any door, curtain, wall, two-way mirror or other device which would prohibit a person from seeing into the interior of the individual viewing area from the manager’s station. A security guard shall be stationed in the security station at all times the business is in operation or open to the public in order to enforce all rules and regulations. No individual viewing area shall be designed or operated to permit occupancy of more than one person at a time. “Individual viewing area” means any area designed for occupancy of one person for the purpose of viewing live performances, pictures, movies, videos or other presentations. Ordinance No. 593 Amendments to Section 5.80.060 Removing Dark Sky Ordinance Reference Adopted: May 4, 2021 Page 7 of 9 T. All areas of the sexually oriented business shall be illuminated at a minimum of the following footcandles, minimally maintained and evenly distributed at ground level: Bookstores 20 footcandles Retail establishments 20 footcandles Theater 5 footcandles (except during performances, at which time the lighting shall be at least 1.25 footcandles) Cabaret 5 footcandles Motion picture arcade 10 footcandles in public areas Individual viewing booths 1.25 footcandles Motion picture theater 10 footcandles (except during performances at which time the lighting shall be at least 1.25 footcandles) Motel/hotel 20 footcandles in public areas U. At least one security guard in addition to the manager, is required for every fifty patrons at sexually oriented businesses providing live entertainment. The manager may act as the security guard where less than fifty patrons are present. V. The individual viewing areas of the sexually oriented business shall be operated and maintained with no holes, openings or other means of direct visual or physical access between the interior space of two or more individual viewing areas. W. A traffic study has been prepared for the sexually oriented business in conformance with industry standards. The applicant shall demonstrate that the project will not result in a reduction in any roadway level of service below that level of service designated on the general plan for that roadway. X. The sexually oriented business shall comply with the noise element of the general plan, interior and exterior noise standards and any mitigation measures necessary to reduce the project’s noise impacts to the city’s articulated noise standards. Y. The sexually oriented business shall comply with all building and construction standards of the Uniform Building Code, Chapter 24 hereof, Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, and all other federal, state and city-adopted standards for the specific use. Ordinance No. 593 Amendments to Section 5.80.060 Removing Dark Sky Ordinance Reference Adopted: May 4, 2021 Page 8 of 9 Z. Whenever live entertainment is provided, patrons shall be physically separated from sexually oriented entertainers by a floor to ceiling or, if appropriate, stage floor to ceiling, permanent, solid barrier and a buffer zone of at least three feet. “Live entertainment,” for the purposes of this requirement, means any existent display by a human being which is characterized by an emphasis on specified anatomical parts or specified sexual activities. The three-foot buffer zone provision shall not apply to an individual viewing area where the stage is completely separated from the individual viewing area by a floor to ceiling permanent, solid barrier. AA. No building, premises, structure, or other facility shall be permitted to contain more than one type of sexually oriented business as such types of sexually oriented business are defined in Section 5.80.020. For the purposes of this section, the catchall phrase “sexually oriented business” shall not be considered a single type of sexually oriented business. BB. No individual viewing area may be occupied by more than one person at any one time. CC. No patron shall come into direct or indirect physical contact with any sexually oriented entertainer. DD. All building openings, entries, windows, etc., shall be located, covered or screened in such a manner as to prevent a view into the interior from outside the building. EE. Lighting in Parking Lots. Lighting shall be required and designed to illuminate all off-street parking areas serving such use for the purpose of increasing the personal safety of store patrons and reducing the incidence of vandalism and theft. All such lighting shall comply with Section 9.100.150 and subsection J of Section 9.150.080 (or successor sections), as applicable. FF. Amplified Sound. No loudspeakers or sound equipment shall be used by a sexually oriented business for the amplification of sound to a level discernible by the public beyond the wall of the building in which such use is conducted. GG. The building entrance to the adult use shall be clearly and legibly posted by a notice indicating that minors are precluded from entering the premises. As used in this subsection, “minor” means an individual less than eighteen years of age. HH. Commercial businesses licensed or operating within the city shall not display or exhibit any material in a manner which exposes to public view photographs or illustrations of specified sexual activities or one or more naked adults in poses which emphasize or direct the viewer’s attention to the subject’s genitals. As used in this subsection, “exposes to public view” means exposes to the view of the person outside the building in which the commercial business is located. II. The permit required by this chapter shall be displayed in a prominent area. The city shall deny the requested permit in writing if the above findings have not been made and shall state reasons for the denial. (Ord. 526 § 15, 2015; Ord. 270 § 2, 1995)