[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of East
Granby 6-30-1998 (Ch. XXXV of the 1975 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.Â
That adult-oriented establishments, as hereinafter defined, require
special supervision from public safety agencies in order to protect
and preserve the health, safety and welfare of the Town's citizens.
B.Â
That unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments, including, without limitation, those specifically defined in § 175-2 hereof, would be detrimental to the general welfare, health and safety of the citizens of East Granby and especially its youth.
C.Â
That 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.
D.Â
That it is not the intent of this chapter to deny any person rights
to speech protected by the Constitutions of the United States and
of the State of Connecticut nor is it the intent of this chapter to
impose any additional limitations or restrictions on the contents
of any communicative materials, including sexually oriented films,
videotapes, books or other materials. Further, this chapter does not
intend to deny or restrict the rights of any adult to obtain or view
any sexually oriented materials protected by the Constitutions of
the United States and of the State of Connecticut nor constitutionally
protected rights that distributors or exhibitors of such sexually
oriented materials may have to sell, distribute or exhibit such materials.
For the purposes 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
or specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation by
patrons therein.
An establishment having a substantial or significant portion
of its stock and trade in books, films, videocassettes, 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,
and in conjunction therewith having facilities for the presentation
of adult entertainment, as defined below, and including adult-oriented
films, movies or live entertainment, for observation by patrons therein.
Includes any exhibition of any adult-oriented motion pictures,
videos, live performance, display or dance of any type, 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, removal of articles of
clothing or appearing unclothed, pantomime, modeling, or any other
similar adult-oriented personal services offered customers.[1]
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.
Includes, without limitation, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture
theaters, adult video galleries, adult mini-motion-picture theaters
and further means any premises to which the public, patrons or members
are invited or admitted and wherein an entertainer provides adult
entertainment to a member of the public, a patron or a member, when
such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained
for a profit, direct or indirect, or which premises 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-oriented motion pictures. An adult-oriented establishment
studio further includes, but is not limited to, 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.[2]
Includes any machine which upon the payment of a charge or
upon the insertion of a coin, slug, token, plate or disk, may be operated
by the public for the use as a game, entertainment or amusement, whether
or not registering a score and whether or not electronically operated,
and shall include but not be limited to such devices as pinball machines,
skeeball, mechanical grab machines, electronic baseball, football,
hockey or basketball machines, any and all air-propelled machines
or games, pool tables, shooting games, any and all video games and
all other games, operations similar thereto under whatever name they
may be indicated, including video monitoring machines. This definition
shall not apply to those items generally described as jukeboxes or
billiard tables or pool tables in billiard or pool parlors solely
designated as such and permitted under the Zoning Ordinance.
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 independent contractor.
The Zoning Enforcement Officer, Fire Marshal, Director of
Public Health, any designee of the foregoing, or any police officer
or constable of the Town, or any other employee or agent of the Town,
authorized to inspect premises regulated under this chapter or to
take action authorized by this chapter, any other ordinance or regulation
of the Town or any state or federal law or to require correction of
unsatisfactory conditions on any such premises.
Deemed to refer to a person under the age of 18 years.
Any person, partnership, corporation or other legal entity
operating, conducting or maintaining an adult-oriented establishment.
As used in this chapter, is not intended to include the publication,
sale or distribution of any medical publications or films or bona
fide educational publications or films; any art or photography publications
which devote 25% of the lineage of each issue to articles and advertisements
dealing with subjects of art or photography; any news periodical which
reports or describes current events and which, from time to time,
publishes photographs or nude or seminude persons in connection with
the dissemination of the news; or any 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
when describing cultures in which nudity or seminudity is indigenous
to the population.
A.Â
No operator or employee of an adult-oriented establishment shall
allow or permit any minor to loiter in any part of such establishment,
including parking lots immediately adjacent to such establishment
used by patrons or such adult-oriented establishment.
B.Â
Every adult-oriented establishment doing business in the Town 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.
C.Â
The operator of each adult-oriented establishment shall be responsible
to insure that any room or other areas 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 one footcandle as measured at the floor
level. It shall be the duty of the operator and its agents to insure
that the illumination described above is maintained at all times when
any patron is present in the premises.
D.Â
Every act or omission by an employee constituting 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 express
or implied authorization, knowledge, or approval of the operator,
including any act or omission, as a result of the operator's negligent
failure to supervise the employee's conduct; 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.
E.Â
An operator shall be responsible for the conduct of all employees
while on the 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 the operator for purposes of determining whether
the operator shall be subject to the penalties imposed by this chapter.
F.Â
All adult-oriented establishments shall be open to inspection at
all reasonable times by any inspector of the Town.
G.Â
Advertisements, displays or other promotional materials displaying
or depicting specified anatomical areas or specific sexual activities
shall not be shown or exhibited so as to be visible or audible to
the public from adjacent streets, sidewalks or walkways or from other
areas outside the establishment; and all building openings, entries
and windows for adult-oriented uses shall be located, covered or screened
in such manner as to prevent the interior of such premises from being
viewed from outside the establishment.