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Town of Hadley, MA
Hampshire County
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Code
New Laws (11) Index
[Added 5-6-2004]
The purpose of this bylaw is to establish reasonable and uniform regulation of adult entertainment uses within the Town of Hadley. The intent of the bylaw is to address and mitigate the negative secondary effect of adult entertainment uses. Studies have documented that the quality of life in a community is degraded by adult entertainment establishments as a result of increased levels of crime; depreciation of property values; adverse impacts on the business climate; adverse impacts on neighborhood character; and adverse impacts on public health, including noise, litter, unsanitary conditions, traffic and adverse influence on children.
The provisions of this bylaw have neither the purpose nor the effect of imposing limitation or restriction on the content of any communicative materials, and it is not the intent nor effect of this bylaw to restrict or deny access by adults to sexually oriented materials protected by the First Amendment or to deny access by the distributors and exhibitors of adult entertainment to their intended market. It is neither the intent nor the effect of this bylaw to condone or legitimize the distribution of obscene or other illegal matter or materials.
[Amended 5-5-2011 ATM by Art. 18; 5-22-2021 ATM by Art. 3]
23.2.1. 
The following terms shall be defined as stated in MGL c. 272, § 31. Also see § 1.2.
1. 
Nudity.
2. 
Sexual conduct.
3. 
Sexual excitement.
4. 
Matter.
5. 
Visual material.
Adult entertainment uses shall be allowed in the Industrial Zoned District with the granting of a special permit by the Board of Appeals.
23.4.1. 
Applications for a special permit under this section shall comply with the requirements of the special permit and site plan approval, §§ 8.4 and 8.5 of this bylaw. In addition to the submittal requirements of §§ 8.4 and 8.5, the special permit application and site plan shall include the following information:
(1) 
The name and address of the legal owner of the establishment, the legal owner of the property, and the manager of the proposed establishment.
(2) 
The distances between the proposed adult entertainment use and the property line of all uses listed in § 23.5.1 of this provision.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 23.4.2, regarding a special permit hearing, which immediately followed, was repealed 5-4-2017 ATM by Art. 24.
23.5.1. 
The Board of Appeals shall issue a special permit for an adult entertainment use if the following minimum criteria are met:
23.5.1.1. 
Adult entertainment uses shall not be located within:
(1) 
Two hundred feet from any residence.
(2) 
Two hundred feet from any public or private school, state-approved child-care facility, or nursery school.
(3) 
Two hundred feet from any church or other facility used for religious purposes.
(4) 
Two hundred feet from any playground.
(5) 
Two hundred feet from any other adult entertainment use within the Industrial District.
[Amended 5-5-2011 ATM by Art. 18]
(6) 
Two hundred feet from any establishment licensed under MGL c. 138, § 12.
23.5.1.2. 
All adult entertainment uses shall be required to operate during the same time period of businesses as set forth by the Town for all liquor license establishments.
23.5.1.3. 
All building openings, entries and windows shall be screened in such a manner as to prevent visual access to the interior of the establishment by the public.
23.5.1.4. 
No adult entertainment use shall be allowed to display any advertisement, sign, placard or other matter or visual material containing or depicting nudity, sexual conduct or sexual excitement.
23.5.1.5. 
No adult entertainment use shall be allowed to disseminate or offer to disseminate adult matter or paraphernalia to minors or suffer minors to view displays or linger on the premises.
23.5.1.6. 
Any special permit granted for an adult entertainment use shall be personal to the applicant, shall not run with the land and shall expire upon expiration of the applicant's lease or upon sale or transfer of the subject's property/business.
23.5.1.7. 
Any adult entertainment use granted a special permit shall comply with all other Town bylaws and all statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts regarding public nuisances, sexual conduct, lewdness, obscene or harmful matter or the exhibition or public display thereof. MGL c. 119, § 63 and MGL c. 272, § 28.
23.5.2. 
Conditions, safeguards, and limitations for adult entertainment uses. In granting a special permit, the Board of Appeals may impose additional conditions, safeguards and limitations on the permit, including but not limited to additional buffer zones or screening.
23.5.3. 
Expiration. Any adult entertainment use special permit granted shall expire after a period of two calendar years from its date of issuance and shall be automatically renewable for successive two-year periods thereafter, provided that a written request for such renewal is made to the special permit granting authority prior to said expiration and that no objection to said renewal is made and sustained by the special permit granting authority based upon the public safety factors applied at the time that the original special permit was granted.
23.5.4. 
Preexisting adult entertainment uses. Any existing adult entertainment use shall apply for a special permit from the Board of Appeals within 90 days following the adoption of this bylaw, with the exception of those existing establishments that meet the criteria of § 23.5.1.
The provisions of this section are severable, and in the event that any provision of this section is determined to be invalid for any reason, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.