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DEC -2n -1994' 17:27 FROM SI JEEME`r' 3 SORER <br />TO LITTLE -CA WDA F.n4.'12 <br />14. Communities should adopt regulations which reduce exposure of <br />the community and minors to the blighting appearance of sexually <br />oriented businesses, Including but not limited to regulations of signage <br />and exterior design of such businesses, and should enforce state law <br />requiring sealed wrappers and opaque covers on sexually oriented <br />material. <br />IMPACTS OF SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES <br />The Working Group reviewed evidence from studies conducted in Minneapolis and <br />St. Paul and in other cities throughout the country. These studies, taken together, <br />provide compelling evidence that sexually oriented businesses are associated with high <br />crime rates and depression of property values. In addition, the Working Group heard <br />testimony that the character of a neighborhood can dramatically change when there is <br />a concentration of sexually oriented businesses adjacent to residential property. <br />Minneapolis Study <br />In 1980, on direction from the Minneapolis City Council, the Minneapolis Crime <br />Prevention Center examined the effects of sex - oriented and alcohol- oriented adult <br />entertainment upon property values and crime rates. This study used both simple <br />regression and multiple regression statistical analysis to evaluate whether there was a <br />causal relationship between these businesses and neighborhood blight. <br />The study concluded that there was a close association between sexually oriented <br />businesses, high crime rates and low housing values in a neighborhood. When the <br />data was reexamined using control variables such as the mean income in the <br />neighborhood to determine whether the association proved causation, it was unclear <br />whether sexually oriented businesses caused a decline in property values, The <br />Minneapolis study concluded that sexually oriented businesses concentrate in areas <br />which are relatively deteriorated and, at most, they may weakly contribute to the <br />continued depression of property values. <br />-6- <br />Page 76 <br />