[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Hainesport 8-24-1999 by Ord. No. 1999-6-7. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
A.
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and preserve
the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township of
Hainesport and the patrons of sexually oriented businesses.
B.
It is accepted that certain sexually oriented activities
may include prohibited acts and criminal offenses and these uses,
by their very nature, are recognized as having serious objectionable
operational characteristics, particularly when located near residential
zones or in other inappropriate locations or without sufficient showing
that such uses in a specified location will comply with the conditions
and standards for the location and operation of such uses.
C.
It is further recognized that sexually oriented businesses,
due to their nature, have a deleterious effect on existing businesses
around them or in close proximity to one another, thereby contributing
to urban and rural blight and adversely affecting the quality of life
in the adjacent area. The Township Committee desires to minimize and
control these adverse effects to protect the health, safety and welfare
of its citizens; protect the citizens from increased crime; preserve
the quality of life; preserve the property values and character of
surrounding neighborhoods; and deter the spread of potential community
blight.
D.
It is not the intent of this chapter to suppress any
speech activities protected by the First Amendment, but to enact content-neutral
regulations which address the secondary effects of sexually oriented
businesses. It is also not the intent of the Township Committee to
condone or legitimize the promotion of obscene material, and the Committee
recognizes that, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:34-3, New Jersey State law
prohibits "the dissemination of obscene materials to a person 18 years
of age or younger either by sale, distribution, rental or exhibition
and expects and encourages state enforcement officials to enforce
the obscenity statutes against any such illegal activities" in Hainesport
Township.
[Amended 12-8-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-8]
E.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to regulate
sexually oriented businesses to promote the health, safety and general
welfare of the citizens of the Township of Hainesport, as well as
the patrons of such businesses, and to establish reasonable regulations
to prevent adverse effects of sexually oriented businesses within
the Township. The provisions of this chapter have neither the purpose
nor effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content
of any communicative material or speech activity, including sexually
oriented materials or expressive speech activity. Similarly, it is
not the intent nor effect of this chapter to restrict or deny access
by adults to sexually oriented materials or activity protected by
the First Amendment, or to deny access, distribution or the legal
exhibition of these wares to their intended market.
The definitions set forth herein are adopted
from N.J.S.A. 2C:33-12.2
An individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation,
association or other legal entity.
A commercial establishment which as one of its
principal business purposes offers for sale, rental or display any
of the following: books, magazines, periodicals or other printed material,
or photographs, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or
other visual representations which depict or describe a specified
sexual activity or specified anatomical area; or still or motion-picture
machines, projectors or other image-producing devices which show images
to one person per machine at any one time, and whether the images
so displayed are characterized by the depiction of a specified sexual
activity or specified anatomical area; or instruments, devices or
paraphernalia which are designed for use in connection with a specified
sexual activity; or
A commercial establishment which regularly features
live performances characterized by the exposure of a specified anatomical
area or by a specified sexual activity, or which regularly shows films,
motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or other photographic representations
which depict or describe a specified sexually activity or specified
anatomical area.
A.
A sexually oriented business shall be permitted as
a conditional use in the Industrial-1 District.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
B.
A sexually oriented business is permitted in the Industrial-1
District, provided that it is not located within 1,000 feet of:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
C.
For the purposes of Subsection B, measurement shall be made in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest portion of the building or structure used as a part of the premises where a sexually oriented business is conducted to the nearest property line of the premises of a church or place of religious worship, or public or private elementary or secondary school, or to the nearest boundary of an affected public park, residential district or residential lot.
D.
Every sexually oriented business shall be surrounded
by a perimeter buffer of at least 50 feet in width with plantings,
fence or other physical divider along the outside of the perimeter
sufficient to impede the view of the interior of the premises in which
the business is located. All such shrubs shall be at least six feet
high at the time of planting along any common property line.
E.
Any sexually oriented business lawfully operating
in violation of the above as of the enactment into law of this chapter,
although nonconforming, shall be permitted to continue, within the
parameters set forth herein, unless it is voluntarily discontinued
for a period of 30 days or more.
F.
A sexually oriented business lawfully operating is
not rendered illegal by the location, subsequent to the grant or renewal
of the appropriate mercantile license, of a church or place of religious
worship, public or private elementary or secondary school or public
park. This provision applies only to the renewal of a valid license
and does not apply when an application for a license is submitted
after a license has expired or has been revoked.
G.
No sexually oriented business shall violate or suffer
or permit or have upon its premises a person convicted of a violation
of a crime, any statute, ordinance or regulations involving sexually
oriented businesses or violate any other law pertaining to the operation
of the premises or violate the provisions of this chapter. Any such
infraction shall cause legal action against the mercantile license
of such business as set forth in the General Ordinances of the Township
of Hainesport.
H.
Sexually oriented businesses within the Township of Hainesport are subject to the rules and regulations as set forth in the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., and any expansion, alteration, change, etc., shall be subject to the restrictions set forth under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d, and local ordinances, including § 104-74 of the Hainesport Township Zoning Ordinances.
A.
A person who operates or causes to be operated a sexually
oriented business shall comply with the following requirements:
(1)
The applicant shall apply for a mercantile license
to operate a sexually oriented business. If the applicant is an individual,
he or she must sign the application for a license as applicant and
provide his/her full name, address and telephone numbers. If the applicant
is a partnership, the partners' names, addresses and telephone numbers
must be listed on the application. If the applicant is a corporation,
the applicant shall disclose the names, addresses and telephone numbers
of the appropriate registered agent, corporate officers, shareholders
and the name of the person or persons who are or will be primarily
responsible for the management and operation of the sexually oriented
business. Upon application for a mercantile license, the application
shall be accompanied by a diagram of the premises showing a plan thereof
specifying the location of one or more manager's stations and the
location of all overhead lighting fixtures and designating any portion
of the premises in which patrons will not be permitted. The diagram
shall also designate the place at which the license will be conspicuously
posted, if granted. Each diagram should be oriented to the north or
to some designated street or object and should be drawn to a designated
scale or with marked dimensions sufficient to show the various internal
dimensions of all areas of the interior of the premises. The Township
Committee may waive the foregoing diagram or renewal applications
if the applicant adopts a diagram that was previously submitted and
certifies that the configuration of the premises has not been altered
since it was prepared.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
(2)
No alteration in the configuration or location of
a manager's station may be made without the prior approval of the
Construction Official or his designee.
(3)
It is the duty of the owners and operator of the premises
to ensure that at least one employee is on duty and situated in each
manager's station at all times that any patron is present inside the
premises.
(4)
The interior of the premises shall be configured in
such a manner that there is an unobstructed view from a manager's
station of every area of the premises to which any patron is permitted
access for any purpose, excluding restrooms. Restrooms may not contain
video reproduction equipment or otherwise serve as viewing areas for
patrons. If the premises has two or more manager's stations designated,
then the interior of the premises shall be configured in such a manner
that there is an unobstructed view of each area of the premises to
which any patron is permitted access for any purpose from at least
one of the manager's stations. The view required in this subsection
must be by direct line of sight from the manager's station. View booths
must be separated at least 12 inches from the exterior walls of any
other view booths.
(5)
It shall be the duty of the owners and operator, and it shall also be the duty of any agents and employees present in the premises, to ensure that the area specified in Subsection A(4) remains unobstructed by any doors, walls, merchandise, display racks or other materials at all times that any patron is present in the premises and to ensure that no patron is permitted access to any area of the premises which has been designated as an area in which patrons will not be permitted in the application filed pursuant to Subsection A(1) of this section.
(6)
The premises shall be equipped with overhead lighting
fixtures of sufficient intensity to illuminate every place to which
patrons are permitted access at an illumination of not less than one
footcandle as measured at the floor level, and which otherwise satisfy
site plan review standards.
(7)
It shall be the duty of the owners and operator, and
it shall also be the duty of any agents and employees present in the
premises, to ensure that the illumination described above is maintained
at all times that any patron is present in the premises.
(8)
A sexually oriented business operating without a New
Jersey alcoholic beverage license shall be permitted to conduct the
sexually oriented business only between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to
10:00 p.m. A sexually oriented business operating with a New Jersey
alcoholic beverage license shall be subject to the hours of operation
of licensed liquor establishments as set forth in the General Ordinances.[1] This subsection governs the operation of the sexually
oriented business as defined in this chapter and does not control
the hours of operation of other permitted uses on the premises. (Authority:
N.J.S.A. 2C:33-12.2.)
(9)
For the prevention of the spread of sexually transmitted
disease, no partitions between subdivisions of a room, portion or
part of a building, structure or premises may have an aperture which
is designed or otherwise constructed to encourage sexual activity
between persons on either side of the partition.
(10)
No booths, stalls or partitioned portions of
a room, or individual rooms, used for the viewing of motion pictures
or other forms of entertainment shall have doors, curtains or portal
partitions, but all such booths, stalls, partitioned portions of a
room or individual rooms so used shall have at least one side open
to an adjacent public room so that the area inside is visible to persons
in the adjacent public room. All such described areas shall be lighted
in such a manner that the persons in the areas used for viewing motion
pictures or other forms of entertainment are visible from the adjacent
public rooms, but such lighting shall not be of such intensity as
to prevent the viewing of the motion pictures or other offered entertainment.
(11)
Each applicant for a business license shall,
upon the filing of the application and payment of the filing fee,
place signs (at lest 24 inches by 36 inches in size) which provide
notification and information specifically stating SEXUALLY ORIENTED
BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICATION PENDING and the date on which the application
was filed. All lettering on the signs must be at least one and one-half
inches by two inches in size for each letter of the sign. The signs
must be of sufficient quantities to be placed upon the property so
as to identify it as being subject to a proposed sexually oriented
license. It shall be the duty of each applicant as to each particular
application to erect said signs along all the property's public road
or highway frontage.
(12)
Publication of notice of application.
(a)
Every applicant for a sexually oriented business
license shall give notice of the application by publication at its
own expense in two consecutive issues of the official newspaper of
Hainesport Township. The notice shall be printed in twelve-point boldface
type and shall include:
[1]
The fact that a sexually oriented business license
has been applied for;
[2]
The exact location of the place of business
for which the license is sought;
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
[3]
The names of each owner of the business and,
if the business is operated under an assumed name, the trade name,
together with the names of all owners; and
[4]
If the applicant is a corporation, the names
and titles of all officers.
(b)
Such notice shall be printed not less than 14
days after the application is filed with the Municipal Clerk.
(13)
All employees of a sexually oriented business
are required to be listed on the application form, delineating each
person's age, address and social security number. All employees must
be at least 18 years of age. No person may work for any sexually oriented
business without having on his/her person at all times while at work
an appropriate identification card showing that he/she is an employee
of the licensee. Such identification shall be available at all times
for inspection and shall be worn on the left breast of said employee
during working periods. Application forms will be provided by the
Municipal Clerk, and the determination of compliance must be made
by the Township Committee within 45 days from the time of the filing
of the application.
(14)
The fact that a person possesses any other valid
license required by law does not exempt him/her from the requirement
of obtaining a sexually oriented business license. A person who operates
a sexually oriented business and possesses another business and/or
alcoholic license shall comply with the requirements and provisions
of this chapter as well as the requirements and provisions of the
laws concerning the other licenses.
(15)
All trash, refuse, articles or any matter to
be disposed of shall be shredded, cut or rendered in such a fashion
so that the remains are not readable, legible or discernible.
C.
Issuance of license.
(1)
All licenses for the operation of a sexually oriented
business shall be granted/denied by the Hainesport Township Committee.
If granted, the license shall be issued by the Township Clerk. The
license shall be renewed and reissued annually effective January 1
of each year after the payment of the required fees and submission
of the application form to the Clerk. The license, when issued, shall
be posted and conspicuously displayed in the place of business of
the applicant. The Municipal Clerk shall also issue all identification
cards required by the licensee and/or its employees at the same time
that the license issued. The fee for each identification card shall
be $25 per calendar year. The license shall state on its face the
name of the person to whom it is granted, the expiration date and
the address of the sexually oriented business. The license shall be
posted in a conspicuous place at or near the entrance to the sexually
oriented business so that it may be easily read at any time.
(2)
The annual fee for a sexually oriented business shall
be $1,000, to be submitted with the application.
(3)
The Township Committee shall approve the issuance
of a license to an applicant within 60 days after receipt of an application
unless it finds one or more of the following to be true:
(a)
An applicant or its employee is under 18 years
of age.
(b)
An applicant is overdue in its payment to the
Township of taxes, fees, fines or penalties assessed against it or
imposed upon it in relation to a sexually oriented business.
(c)
An applicant has failed to provide information
reasonably necessary for the issuance of the license or has falsely
answered a question or request for information on the application
form.
(d)
An applicant has been convicted of a violation
of a provision of this chapter, other than the offense of operating
a sexually oriented business without a license, within two years immediately
preceding the application.
(e)
The premises to be used for the sexually oriented
business has not been approved by the Zoning Officer and/or the Township
Construction Official as being in compliance with this chapter.
(f)
The license fee required by this chapter has
not been paid.
(g)
An applicant has been employed in a sexually
oriented business in a managerial capacity within the preceding 12
months and has demonstrated that he or she or it is unable to operate
or manage a sexually oriented business premises in a peaceful and
law-abiding manner, which necessitated repeated action by police officers.
(h)
The premises does not have at least two emergency
fire exits.
(i)
The premises has not been inspected as to fire
prevention and fire safety and approved by the fire subcode official
and/or County Fire Marshal. Said inspections and/or approvals must
be completed and forwarded to the Township within 30 days of the date
that the license application has been filed.
(j)
An applicant has been convicted of a crime involving
any of the following offenses as described in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-1 et
seq. and N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2 et seq.:
[1]
Prostitution.
[2]
Promotion of prostitution.
[3]
Compelling prostitution.
[4]
Obscenity.
[5]
Sale, distribution or display of harmful material
to minors.
[6]
Sexual performance by a child.
[7]
Possession of child pornography.
[8]
Criminal attempt, conspiracy or solicitation
to commit any of the foregoing offenses.
(4)
Removal of disqualification. An applicant who has
been convicted of an offense listed above may qualify for a sexually
oriented business license only when such conviction has preceded the
date of the application by five years or more and the Township Committee
grants a request for removal of the disqualification for good cause
shown.
A.
A person commits an offense if, in a sexually oriented
business establishment open to persons under the age of 18 years,
he permits obscene material to be disseminated to persons under the
age of 18 years pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:34-3 et seq.
B.
In this section, "display" means to locate an item
in such a manner that, without obtaining assistance from an employee
of the business establishment:
C.
Defenses to prosecution under this section are provided
in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-3, Subsection e, and shall be incorporated herein
as if fully set forth.
[Amended 12-8-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-8]
This chapter shall be enforced by the Zoning Officer, Code Enforcement
Officer and/or any law enforcement officers of the State of New Jersey.
[Amended 5-23-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-5-4; 12-8-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-8]
Any person(s) who is found to be in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty as specified in § 1-1 of the Township Code.
