[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Charter Township
of East China 11-18-1980 by Ord. No. 117
as Ch. 3-04 of the 1980 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Massage parlors, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture theaters, premises
for nude entertainment, sauna or open bathhouses, or nude modeling studios
in the Charter Township of East China shall be regulated for the preservation
of the public peace, health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Charter
Township of East China.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this chapter:
An establishment having, as a portion of its stock-in-trade, books,
magazines, and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized
by their emphasis on matters depicting, describing or relating to “specific
sexual activities” or “specific anatomical areas” (as defined
below), or an establishment with a segment or section devoted to the sale
or display of such material.
An establishment used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to “specific
sexual activities” or “specific anatomical areas” (as defined
below), for observation by patrons therein.
Includes the duly authorized officials of said Township.[1]
An establishment used for housing equipment and employing persons
who give massages, body rubs, or muscle-relaxing exercises to other persons,
necessitating human contact between such employee and any other person.
An establishment used for housing and exhibiting persons in the nude
acting as models for other persons to paint, photograph or draw.
Every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation
and their legal successors.
An establishment used for housing and exhibiting persons in the nude
or “specific anatomical areas” (as defined below) of the human
body.
An establishment used for equipment and housing of apparatus wherein
members of the public may have a steam bath or hot water baths.
For the purpose of this section:
For the purpose of this section:
A.
Requirement established. No person shall open or cause
to be opened, or conduct, maintain or operate any massage parlor, adult bookstore,
adult motion-picture theater, premises for nude entertainment, sauna or open
bathhouse, or nude modeling studio within the Township, without first having
obtained a license from the Township to do so.
B.
Application. Each person desiring to open, conduct or
maintain a massage parlor, adult bookstore, adult motion-picture theater,
premises for nude entertainment, sauna or open bathhouse, or nude modeling
studio shall first make application to the Township Clerk for a license therefor.
(1)
Content. Said application shall contain:
(a)
The name, address, including street and number, of the
applicant; or if more than one person, or if an association or a firm, the
full names and addresses, including street and number, of the persons financially
interested;
(b)
If a corporation, a list of the officers and the manager
and whether or not the manager is a citizen of the United States;
(c)
The applicant's business for the past three years,
and the place or places in which he has conducted a business during the past
three years;
(d)
Satisfactory proof of the required age;
(e)
The proposed location;
(f)
Such other information as the Township Clerk shall deem
reasonably necessary and proper for the full protection of the Charter Township
of East China, as well as the applicant/licensee, in order to effectuate the
purposes of this chapter and state statutes have been complied with.
(2)
Filing deadline. Said application shall be filed at least
30 days prior to the time desired for granting of said license.
(3)
Information changes. If, while the application is pending,
or during the term of any permit granted thereunder, there is any change in
fact, policy or method which would alter the information provided in such
application, applicant/licensee shall notify the Township Clerk in writing
thereof within 72 hours after such change.
D.
Recommendations concerning issuance.
(1)
Supervisor and Ordinance Enforcement Officer. Previous
to issuance or renewal of any license under this chapter, a recommendation
concerning the issuance of said license shall be obtained from the Supervisor
and a Township Ordinance Enforcement Officer. The Supervisor shall:[1]
E.
Grant of license. The Township Board shall determine
whether or not said license shall be issued, revoked or suspended after reviewing
the recommendations of the Supervisor, Ordinance Enforcement Officer, and
Fire Chief.[3]
G.
Nontransferable. Said licenses shall not be transferable
without the approval of the Township.
H.
Hearing to deny, revoke, or suspend. In the event the
Township Board chooses to deny the issuance of said license or revoke or suspend
an existing license:
(1)
Date. The Township Board shall set a date for hearing
within 30 days.
(2)
Written notice. The Township Board shall give at least
10 days’ notice by mailing a hearing notice to the applicant, or licensee,
by regular mail, addressed to the applicant/licensee at the address shown
on the application, and said notice shall specify:
(3)
Representation by counsel. At such hearing, applicant/licensee
and his attorney may be present and may submit evidence in applicant’s/licensee's
defense.
The Supervisor and the Ordinance Enforcement Officer of the Township
shall have access at all times to all massage parlors, adult bookstores, adult
motion-picture theaters, premises for nude entertainment, sauna or open bathhouses,
or nude modeling studios within the Township limits. It shall be their duty
to investigate and inspect all such places of business, within the Township.
Establishments licensed under this chapter are subject to the following
requirements to insure that any serious objectable operational characteristics
will not contribute to the blighting or downgrading of the surrounding neighborhood:
B.
Operation. No person receiving a license under this chapter
shall:
(1)
Permit any disorderly conduct or the use of any immoral,
profane or indecent language, or indecent language; or
(2)
Permit the sale, giving away, or use of intoxicating
liquors or narcotics; or
(3)
Sell, lend, give away, distribute, show or transmute
or advertise in any manner or otherwise knowingly offer, for either loan,
gift, sale or distribution, any obscene book, magazine, pamphlet, newspaper,
story paper, writing, paper, phonograph record, picture, drawing, photograph,
motion-picture figure, image, wire or tape recording or any written, printed
or recorded matter of obscene character which may or may not require mechanical
or other means to be transmuted into auditory, visual optic sensory representations
of such character, in any such licensed establishment or other location within
the Township.
C.
Hours. No person shall open or cause to be opened, or
operate or cause to be operated, within the Township limits, any massage parlor,
adult bookstore, adult motion-picture theater, premises for nude entertainment,
sauna or open bathhouse, or nude modeling studio between the hours of 11:00
p.m. and 6:00 a.m.