§ 3.5-35. Findings of facts.

The city council adopts this code [article] based on evidence and testimony presented at public hearings before the city council and on the findings incorporated in the United States Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986), the Jacksonville Ordinance Code, Chapter 410, Ord. 77-257-256, Section 1, the Los Angeles Municipal Code, Section 12.70, Ord. 156509 (1982), the Detroit Zoning Ordinance, 66,0000, Ord. 742-G, Section 1, 10-24-72, and "A Summary of a National Survey of Real Estate Appraisers Regarding the Effect of Adult Bookstores on Property Values," conducted by the Division of Planning, Department of Metropolitan Development, Indianapolis, January 1984, and the findings of fact set out in Section 3-5 of the Adult Entertainment Code of Orange County, Florida, a county in Central Florida, and findings of the City of Daytona Beach.

(1)

Commercial establishments exist or may exist within the City and other nearby cities or counties in East Central Florida where books, magazines, periodicals or other printed material, or photographs, films, motion pictures, prints, videotapes, slides, or other visual representations or recordings, or other audio matter, or instruments, novelties, devices, or paraphernalia which depict, illustrate, describe or relate to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas are possessed, displayed, exhibited, distributed and/or sold.

(2)

Commercial establishments exist or may exist within the city and other nearby cities or counties in East Central Florida where dancers, entertainers, performers, or other individuals, who, for commercial gain, perform or are presented while displaying or exposing specified anatomical areas, or engage in straddle dancing or touching with customers.

(3)

The activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur at establishments which operate for the purpose of making a profit and, as such, are subject to regulation by the city in the interest of the health, safety, economy, property values, and general welfare of the people, businesses, and industries of the city. A major industry which is important to the community's economic welfare is tourism by persons seeking to bring children to visit attractions who wish to stay in a community with a family atmosphere.

(4)

When the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) are present in establishments, other activities which are illegal, unsafe, or unhealthful tend to accompany them, concentrate around them, and be aggravated by them. Such other activities include, but are not limited to, prostitution, pandering, solicitation for prostitution, lewd and lascivious behavior, exposing minors to harmful materials, possession, distribution and transportation of obscene materials, sale or possession of controlled substances, and violent crimes against persons and property.

(5)

When the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) are competitively exploited in establishments, they tend to attract an undesirable number of transients, blight neighborhoods, adversely affect neighboring businesses, lower real property values, promote the particular crimes described in subsection (4), and ultimately lead residents and businesses to move to other locations.

(6)

The establishments in which the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur often are constructed, in part or in whole, of substandard materials, maintained in a manner reflecting disregard for the health and safety of the occupants, and have exterior signs or appearance that lower the surrounding property values and contribute to urban decline.

(7)

The activities described in subsections (1) and (2) often occur in establishments concurrent with the sale and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages.

(8)

The concurrence of the sale and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages with the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) leads to a further increase in criminal activity, unsafe activity, and disturbances of the peace and order of the surrounding community.

(9)

The concurrence of the sale and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages with the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) creates additional hazards to the health and safety of persons in attendance and further depreciates the value of adjoining real property, harming the economic welfare of the surrounding community and adversely affecting the quality of life, tone of commerce, and community environment.

(10)

In order to preserve and safeguard the health, safety, property values, and general welfare of the people, businesses, and industries of the city, it is necessary and advisable for the city to regulate the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages at establishments where the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur.

(11)

Employees of establishments at which the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur engage in a higher incidence of certain types of unhealthy or criminal behavior than employees of other establishments.

(12)

Physical contact or touching within establishments at which the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur between employees exhibiting specified anatomical areas and customers poses a threat to the health of both and promotes the spread of communicable and social diseases.

(13)

In order to preserve and safeguard the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of the city, it is necessary and advisable for the city to regulate the conduct of owners, managers, operators, agents, employees, entertainers, performers, and customers at establishments where the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur.

(14)

The potential dangers to the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of the city posed by permitting an establishment at which the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur to operate without first meeting the requirements for obtaining a license under this code [article] are so great as to require the licensure of such establishments prior to their being permitted to operate.

(15)

Requiring operators of establishments at which the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur to keep a list of information concerning current employees and certain recent past employees will help reduce the incidence of certain types of criminal behavior by facilitating the identification of potential witnesses or suspects, and by preventing minors from working in such establishments.

(16)

Prohibiting establishments at which the activities described in subsections (1) and (2) occur from operating within set distances of educational institutions, religious institutions, residences, areas zoned or designated for residential use, and parks, at which minors are customarily found, will serve to protect minors from the adverse affects of the activities that accompany such establishments.

(17)

Straddle dancing, unregulated private performances, and enclosed adult booths in establishments at which the activities described in subsection (1) and (2) occur have resulted in indiscriminate commercial sex between strangers and pose a threat to the health of the participants and promote the spread of communicable sexually transmitted diseases. Straddle dancing is primarily conduct rather than communication or expression.

(Ord. No. 96-10, § 1(5), 6-25-96)