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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997.04.21 RESO 1997-0007CITY OF HUGO WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 1997-7 A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING FINDINGS OF FACT THAT ZONING REGULATIONS OF SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES ARE NECESSARY TO MINIMIZE THE SECONDARY ADVERSE EFFECTS OF SUCH BUSINESSES IN THE CITY OF HUGO. BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Hugo as follows: LEGAL BACKGROUND WHEREAS, the Hugo City Council has been provided with background information on sexually oriented businesses which, in summary fashion, is as follows: 1. The United States Supreme Court in its decisions of Yount v. American Mini Theaters, 96 S. Ct. 2440 (1976), and City of Renton v. Playtime Theaters, 106 S. Ct. 925 (1986) has held that sexually oriented businesses engaged in the offering of adult fare characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting specified sexual activities and anatomical areas may not be completely prohibited from ­ doing business within cities by municipal ordinances. 2. The Supreme Court has further held that municipalities may regulate sexually oriented businesses with lawfully enacted content -neutral time, place and manner zoning and licensing ordinances if said regulations are not merely a pretext for completely prohibiting within a City sexually oriented businesses based on the content of the material being offered. 3. The Supreme Court has concluded that lawful content neutral time, place and manner regulations may have as their focus the minimization of the adverse secondary effects on a community generated by the location and operation of a sexually oriented business within a community. Adverse secondary effects are oriented as: A. Increased incidence of crime; B. Diminution of property values within the community and especially the values of those properties adjacent to or in close proximity to the sexually oriented business; and, C. Increased risk for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. WHEREAS, based on the legal background referenced herein, the Hugo City Council hereby makes the following Findings of Fact in connection with the regulation of sexually oriented businesses within the City: 1. That the City Council has reviewed and considered all the material and unsworn testimony presented before it in connection with the regulation of sexually oriented businesses within the City. 2. That the City council has reviewed and studied a "Report on Adult Oriented Businesses in Austin" prepared by the City of Austin, Texas in May of 1986. The City Council has also reviewed and studied the "Report of the Attorney General's Working Group on Regulation of Sexually Oriented Businesses," dated June 6, 1989 referred to hereafter as the "Report."' 3. The Report considered evidence from studies conducted in Minneapolis and St. Paul and in other cities throughout the Country relating to sexually oriented businesses. 4. The Attorney General's Report, based upon the above referenced studies and the testimony presented to it concluded "that sexually oriented businesses are associated with high crime rates and depression of property values." In addition, the Attorney General's Work Group ". . . heard testimony that the character of a neighborhood can dramatically change when there is a concentration of sexually oriented businesses adjacent to residential property." 5. The Report concludes that sexually oriented businesses have an impact on the neighborhoods surrounding them which is distinct from the impact caused by other commercial uses. 6. The Report concludes that residential neighborhoods located within close proximity to adult theaters, book stores, and other sexually oriented businesses experience increased crime rates (sex-related crimes in particular), lowered property values, increased transiency, and decreased stability of ownership. 'Each of these studies reference and summarize studies conducted by other cities, including but not limited to: Amarillo, Texas; Beaumont, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Los Angeles, California; Los Angeles County, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Pheonix, Arizona; and St. Paul, Minnesota. Fa 7. The Report concludes that the adverse impacts which sexually oriented businesses have on surrounding areas diminish as the distance from the sexually oriented businesses increases. 8. The Report concludes that studies of other cities have shown that, among the crimes which tend to increase either within or in the near vicinity of sexually oriented businesses are rapes, prostitution, child molestation, indecent exposure, and other lewd and lascivious behavior. 9. The Report concludes that the Phoenix, Arizona study confirmed that the sex crime rate was on the average 500 percent higher in areas with sexually oriented businesses. 10. The Report concludes that many members of the public perceive areas within which sexually oriented businesses are located as less safe than other areas which do not have such uses. 11. The Report concludes that many studies of other cities have shown that the values of both commercial and residential properties either are diminished or fail to appreciate at the rate of other comparable properties when located in proximity to sexually oriented businesses. 12. The Report concludes that the Indianapolis, Indiana study established that professional real estate appraisers believe that an adult book store would have a negative effect on the value of both residential and commercial properties within a one to three block area of the store. 13. The City Council finds the suburban characteristics of Hugo are similar to those of the cities by the Report when considering the effects of sexually oriented businesses and that the findings concerning the effects of sexually oriented businesses in other cities documented in the Reports are relevant to Hugo's circumstances. 14. The City Council finds, based upon the Report and the studies cited herein, that sexually oriented businesses will have adverse secondary effects upon certain pre- existing land uses within the City of Hugo, and that in reliance on the data and conclusions made by the studies documented in the Report, it is not necessary for Hugo to conduct its own independent study concerning the effects of sexually oriented businesses locating within the City. 3 15. The City of Hugo is currently without any ordinance regulating the location of sexually oriented businesses within the City. 16. Pursuant to the United States Supreme Court case of City of Renton v. Playtime Theaters, Inc., 106 S.Ct. 925 (1988), and others, it is clear that a permanent total prohibition against sexually oriented businesses would be unconstitutional. 17. The City Council finds that the location of sexually oriented businesses within the City of Hugo will have detrimental secondary effects on the City by unnecessarily lowering property values within the City if said establishments were located in inappropriate areas. 18. The City Council finds that content -neutral time, place and manner restrictions that regulate the zoning of sexually oriented businesses are necessary in the City of Hugo to minimize the adverse secondary effects which will accompany the location and operation of said businesses within the City, but that said regulations should be drafted in such a manner as to allow for reasonable opportunity to open and operate sexually oriented businesses within the City while minimizing the secondary adverse effects. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council hereby recommends the establishment of zoning regulations which will serve to minimize the adverse secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses while providing said businesses a reasonable opportunity to locate and operate within the City of Hugo. ADOPTED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL THIS 21ST DAY OF APRIL, 1997. Attest: 1711, MaryCreager, y Clerk 4