A.
Legislative intent. It is the purpose of this chapter to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City of Newburgh and those persons passing through as transients or visitors or who otherwise are within the jurisdiction of the City of Newburgh by regulating the hours of operation of certain retail business establishments. The City Council of the City of Newburgh has enacted this chapter to address the negative secondary effects of retail establishments open during the late evening hours and early morning hours, based upon police resources, the crime rate, the public order, public safety, public health, physical and mental health, property values, environmental noise, light and air pollution, littering, sanitation and local motor vehicle traffic. The provisions of this chapter have neither the purpose nor effect of restricting or denying access to merchandise or protected speech.
B.
Findings. The Mayor and members of the City Council of the City of Newburgh are all residents of the City and familiar with the locations of businesses which operate during the late evening and early morning hours. Many of such businesses are in close proximity to residences. The Mayor and Council are also cognizant of serious public safety concerns in the local community associated with the nighttime operations of such retail businesses. Based upon the Mayor's and Council's local knowledge and evidence concerning the impacts or "secondary effects" of nighttime retail establishment operations on the community, as presented in hearings and in studies and reports made available to the Council with respect to local business locations, it is hereby found that the operations of certain retail establishments during the late evening and early morning hours lend themselves to unlawful activities at and in nearby proximity to such premises, that are not within the proper control of the operators of the establishments. Such unlawful activities include the discharge of firearms, illegal handgun possessions, assaults, larcenies and narcotics crimes, as well as City Code violations. There are not adequate legal provisions making the owners of these establishments responsible for such activities. Such unlawful activities, coupled with the additional negative effects of late evening and early morning business hours of retail establishments, including noise and light pollution associated with motor vehicle traffic, littering and sanitation issues, and impacts on adjacent and nearby property values constitute a menace to the public health, safety and welfare, which in the absence of corrective measures will result in a deterioration in social values, a curtailment of investment and tax revenues and an impairment of economic values. The imposition of limits on the late evening and early morning hours of operation of such businesses will serve as a deterrent to and reduce opportunities for illegal activities by, between or against customers, as well as mitigate other negative environmental, traffic and sanitary secondary effects. The hours of operation of such retail establishments should be reasonably regulated in order to protect the substantial governmental concerns raised by the various findings herein.