§ 18.242. Findings and purpose.

(a)

The city council finds that:

(1)

The Legislature of the State of Texas has determined that sexually oriented businesses such as the businesses regulated in this chapter may be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare of a community by contributing to the decline of neighborhoods and contributing to the growth of criminal activity.

(2)

The Legislature of the State of Texas has granted cities authority to regulate sexually oriented businesses in V.T.C.A., Local Government Code ch. 243.

(3)

The city, as a home-rule city, has other authority under the Texas Constitution and Local Government Code to enforce ordinances to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens.

(4)

A number of studies have found that adult oriented businesses (a/k/a sexually oriented businesses) have an adverse secondary effect on property values, contribute to an increased crime rate in neighborhoods containing these businesses, cause an increase in sex-related crimes in such neighborhoods, and show a compounding of adverse secondary effects when two or more adult oriented businesses are located in close proximity.

a.

Survey of Texas Appraisers and Crime Related Secondary Effects, Texas City Attorney's Association, June 2008;

b.

A report on Zoning and other Methods of Regulating Adult Entertainment, Amarillo, Texas;

c.

Adult Entertainment an Analysis, Indianapolis, IN, February 1984;

d.

Study and Proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment, Los Angeles, California, April 1978;

e.

Study of Adult entertainment Establishments in the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of City Planning, June 1977; and

f.

Report of the Attorney General's Working Group of the Regulation of Sexually Oriented Businesses; State of Minnesota, June 1989.

(5)

The city council finds and determines, based on these studies, that the regulation of adult oriented businesses is necessary to control and limit these adverse secondary effects.

(6)

The studies that have been presented show that because of their very nature, adult oriented businesses can and should be relegated to nonresidential and nonretail zoning districts.

(7)

The city council has heard testimony that adequate alternate avenues of communication exist, in that approximately 834 acres are available m the city limits for placement of adult oriented businesses that are located within heavy industrial and light industrial districts.

(8)

Sexually transmitted diseases are a legitimate public health concern, and the studies that the city council has reviewed from other cities show that these diseases can be controlled to a certain extent by regulation of certain aspects of adult oriented businesses. The city council finds and determines, based on these studies, that the regulation of adult oriented businesses is necessary to control and limit these adverse secondary effects.

(b)

The purpose of this article is to regulate adult businesses in order to control their adverse secondary effects in the community. The purpose of this article is neither to deny access to or communications of materials protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, nor to condone or legitimize such materials.

(Ord. No. 2010-27, § 2, 5-18-10)