[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of East Haddam 6-3-1999. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
The Board of Selectmen of the Town of East Haddam, Connecticut
finds:
A.Â
There may in the future be adult-oriented establishments located
in the Town of East Haddam which require special supervision from
the Town's public safety agencies in order to protect and preserve
the health, safety and welfare of the patrons of such establishments,
as well as the health, safety, and welfare of the Town's citizens.
B.Â
Statistics and studies performed by a substantial number of cities
and towns in the United States indicate that:
(1)Â
Large numbers of persons, primarily male, frequent such adult-oriented
establishments, especially those which provide closed booths, cubicles,
studies and rooms for the private viewing of so-called "adult" motion
pictures and/or videotapes and/or live entertainment;
(2)Â
Persons under the age of 18 may be attracted to adult-oriented establishments
and seek to enter or loiter about them without the knowledge or permission
of their parents or guardian;
(3)Â
Such closed booths, cubicles, studios and rooms have been used by
patrons, clients or customers of such adult-oriented establishments
for the purpose of engaging in certain sexual acts;
(4)Â
Male and female prostitutes have been known to frequent such establishments
in order to provide sex for hire to the patrons, clients or customers
of such establishments within such booths, cubicles and rooms;
(5)Â
Doors, curtains, blinds and/or other closures installed in or on
the entrances and/or exits of such booths, cubicles and rooms, and
rooms which are closed while such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms
are in use, encourage patrons using such booths, cubicles, studios
and rooms to engage in sexual acts therein with prostitutes or others,
thereby promoting and encouraging prostitution and the commission
of sexual acts which cause blood, semen and urine to be deposited
on the floors and/or walls of such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms,
which deposits could prove detrimental to the health and safety of
other persons who may come into contact with such deposits;
(6)Â
The reasonable regulation and supervision of such adult-oriented
establishments tends to discourage such sexual acts and prostitution
and thereby promotes the health, safety and welfare of the patrons,
clients and customers of such establishments; and
(7)Â
The nature of adult-oriented establishments and the traffic which
they generate, and the potential and the propensity for such establishments
to attract persons interested in explicit sexual activities or erotic
art forms and the potential for outdoor assembly of such persons around
the premises of such establishments, are such as to make them incompatible
with nearby uses of land where concentrations of children or youth
tend to congregate.
C.Â
The continued unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments, including, without limitations, those specifically cited at Subsection A hereof, is and would be detrimental to the general welfare, health and safety of the citizens of East Haddam.
D.Â
The Constitution and Laws of the State of Connecticut grant to the
Town powers, especially police power, to enact reasonable legislation
and measures to regulate and supervise adult-oriented establishments
as hereinafter defined in order to protect the public health, safety
and welfare.
E.Â
It is not the intent of the Board of Selectmen, in enacting this
chapter, to deny to any person rights to speech protected by the United
States and/or State Constitution, nor is it the intent of the Board
of Selectmen to impose any additional limitations or restrictions
on the contents of any communicative materials, including sexually
oriented films, videotapes, books and/or other materials. Further,
by enacting this chapter, the Board of Selectmen does not intend to
deny or restrict the rights of any adult to obtain and/or view any
sexually oriented materials protected by the United States and/or
State Constitution, nor does it intend to restrict or deny any constitutionally
protected rights that distributors or exhibitors of such sexually
oriented materials may have to sell, distribute or exhibit such materials.
For the purpose of this chapter, the words and phrases used
herein shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise clearly
indicated by the context:
Includes any amusement machine that is regularly used for
presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis
on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities
and specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation
by patrons therein.
An establishment having any portion of its stock and trade
in books, films, videocassettes or other visual representations, or
magazines and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized
by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below,
provided that this definition shall not apply to any establishment
in which such materials constitute less than 10% of the value of the
inventory of said establishment and in which the display of such materials
does not permit the viewing of specified sexual activities or specified
anatomical areas within the establishment.
[Amended 3-28-2018]
Any exhibition of any adult-oriented motion pictures, live
performance, display or dance of any type, removal of articles of
clothing or appearing unclothed, pantomime, modeling, or any other
personal services offered customers, which has as a significant or
substantial portion of such performance any actual or simulated performance
of specified sexual activities or exhibition and viewing of specified
anatomical areas.
An enclosed building with a capacity of less than 50 persons
regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below,
for observation by patrons therein.
An enclosed building with a capacity of 50 or more persons
regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below,
for observation by patrons therein.
Shall include, without limitation, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture
theaters, adult mini-motion-picture theaters and commercial establishments
containing one or more adult amusement machines.
"Adult-oriented establishment" further means any premises to
which the public, patrons or members are invited or admitted, and
which are so physically arranged as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms,
studios, compartments or stalls separate from the common areas of
the premises for the purpose of viewing adult entertainment, when
such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained
for a profit, direct or indirect. An adult-oriented establishment
further includes, without limitation, any adult entertainment studio
or any premises that are physically arranged and used as such, whether
advertised or represented as an adult entertainment studio, rap studio,
exotic dance studio, encounter studio, sensitivity studio, modeling
studio, or any other term of like import.
[Amended 3-28-2018]
Any machine which, upon the payment of a charge or upon insertion
of a coin, slug, token, plate, or disk, may be operated by the public
for use as a game, entertainment or amusement, whether or not registering
a score and whether or not electronically operated.
The Board of Selectmen of the Town of East Haddam, Connecticut.
Any and all persons, including independent contractors, who
work in or at or render any services directly related to the operation
of an adult-oriented establishment.
Any person who provides entertainment within an adult-oriented
establishment as defined in this section, whether or not a fee is
charged or accepted for entertainment and whether or not entertainment
is provided as an employee or an independent contractor.
One or more employees of the Town of East Haddam designated
by the Board of Selectmen who shall hereby be authorized to inspect
premises regulated under this chapter and to take the required actions
authorized by this chapter in case of violations being found on such
premises and to require corrections of unsatisfactory conditions found
on said premises.
Deemed to refer to a person under the age of 18 years.
Any person, or any proprietor, shareholder, general partner
or limited partner who holds any share or partnership interest of
any business which is operating, conducting, owning or maintaining
an adult-oriented establishment.
As used in this chapter, is not intended to include any medical
publications or films or bona fide educational publication or films,
nor does it include any art or photography publications which devote
at least 25% of the lineage of each issue to articles and advertisements
dealing with subjects of art or photographs; nor does this definition
apply to any news periodical which reports or describes current events
and which, from time to time, publishes photographs of nude or seminude
persons in connection with the dissemination of the news; nor does
this definition apply to publications or films which describe and
report different cultures and which, from time to time, publish or
show photographs or depictions of nude or seminude persons other than
describing cultures in which nudity or seminudity is indigenous to
the population.
The Building Official or Police Department.
A.Â
No operator or employee of an adult-oriented establishment shall
allow or permit any minor or intoxicated person to loiter in any part
of such establishment used by patrons of such adult-oriented establishment.
B.Â
Every adult-oriented establishment shall display a sign outside each
entrance bearing the words, "Adult-oriented establishment —
persons under 18 not admitted" in letters three inches high.
C.Â
No adult-oriented establishment shall be conducted in such a manner
that permits the observation of any material depicting specified sexual
activities or specified anatomical areas from the outside of the building
that houses the adult-oriented establishment.
D.Â
Every adult-oriented establishment doing business in the Town on
or after July 1, 1999, shall be well lighted at all times and be physically
arranged in such a manner that the entire interior portion of the
booths, cubicles, rooms, or stalls, wherein adult entertainment is
provided, shall be clearly visible from the common areas of the premises.
Visibility into such booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls shall not be
blocked or obscured by doors, curtains, partitions, drapes or any
other obstruction whatsoever. It shall be unlawful to install enclosed
booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls within adult-oriented establishments
for whatever purpose but especially for the purpose of providing for
the secluded viewing of adult-oriented motion pictures or other types
of adult-oriented entertainment.
E.Â
On or after July 1, 1999, the operator of each adult-oriented establishment
shall be responsible for and shall provide that any room or other
area used for the purpose of viewing adult-oriented motion pictures
or other types of live adult entertainment shall be well lighted and
readily accessible at all times and shall be continuously open to
view in its entirety. 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 150 footcandles as measured at the floor level. It shall be the
duty of the operator and its agents to ensure that the illumination
described above is maintained at all times that any patron is present
on the premises.
F.Â
Every act or omission by an employee which constitutes a violation
of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed the act or omission
of the operator if such act or omission occurs either with the authorization,
knowledge or approval of the operator or as a result of the operator's
negligent failure to supervise the employee's conduct, and the operator
shall be punishable for such act or omission in the same manner as
if the operator committed the act or caused the omission.
G.Â
An operator shall be responsible for the conduct of all employees
while on the licensed premises, and any act or omission of any employee
constituting a violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be
deemed the act or omission of operator for purposes of determining
whether the operator shall be subject to the penalties imposed by
this chapter.
H.Â
All adult-oriented establishments shall be open to inspection at
all reasonable times by the inspector, or such other persons as the
Board of Selectmen may designate. Information regarding employees,
including name, date of birth and social security number, must be
maintained as part of the record and must be available for inspection
by Town officials.
I.Â
No adult-oriented establishment shall be open earlier than 9:00 a.m.
or later than 8:00 p.m.
[Amended 3-28-2018]
Adult-oriented establishments shall be located no less than
3,000 feet from any property containing a public or private school
serving grade 12 or lower; any day-care center, nursery school or
similar use; 1,000 feet from any property containing a church or place
of worship, and 100 feet from any public park and recreational facility
owned by the Town of East Haddam, State of Connecticut, or nonprofit,
non-stock corporation or association in the public interest. Adult-oriented
establishments shall not be abutting to existing residential structures.
The separating distance required by this section shall be determined
as of the date that any adult-oriented establishment commences to
operate in accordance with this chapter and any applicable provision(s)
of the East Haddam Zoning Regulations, Building Code, Health Code
or other applicable state and local laws and such adult-oriented establishment
shall not be deemed to violate this section if, thereafter, one of
the enumerated uses is established within the distances set forth
herein.
No adult-oriented establishments shall be permitted in any portion
of a building that is less than 300 feet from that portion of the
building occupied by an existing adult-oriented establishment. The
300 feet shall be the straight horizontal distance from a public entrance
or exit into or out of any portion of the building housing such adult-oriented
establishment or, if only a portion of the building is so used, any
public entrance or exit into or out of any portion of the building
housing such adult-oriented establishment to any such public entrance
or exit for any existing adult-oriented establishment.
A.Â
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which is found to have
violated this chapter shall be fined a definite sum not exceeding
$250 for each such violation.
[Amended 3-28-2018]
B.Â
Each violation of this chapter shall be considered a separate offense,
and any violation continuing more than one hour of time shall be considered
a separate offense for each hour of violation.
