[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of Peters Township 9-13-1982 by Ord. No.
261 (Ch. 6, Part 4, of the 1981 Code of Ordinances).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The matter or performance may be purchased or attended on
a subscription basis, on a membership fee arrangement, or for a separate
fee for each item or performance.
Exposing, placing, posting, exhibiting or in any fashion
displaying in any location, whether public or private, an item in
such a manner that it may be readily seen, and its content or character
distinguished by normal vision viewing it from a street, highway or
public sidewalk, or from the property of others.
To transfer possession of, with or without consideration.
Any pictorial or three-dimensional material depicting human
masturbation; deviate sexual intercourse, sexual intercourse, direct
physical stimulation or unclothed genitals, sadomasochistic abuse,
or emphasizing the depicting of post-pubertal human genitals; provided,
however, that works of art or of anthropological significance shall
not be deemed to be within the foregoing definition.
Being aware of the character and the content of the material.
Any process consisting of kneading, rubbing or otherwise
manipulating the skin of the body of a human being either with the
hand or by means of electrical instruments or apparatus or other special
apparatus, but shall not include massages by duly licensed physicians,
osteopaths, chiropractors, registered nurses and practical nurses
operating under the physician's directions, registered speech
pathologists and physical or occupational therapists who treat only
patients recommended by a licensed physician and who operate only
under such physician's direction; nor shall this definition include
any massage of the face or neck practiced by beauticians, cosmetologists
and barbers duly licensed.
Any building, room, place or establishment where, for any
form of consideration or gratuity, manipulated massage or manipulated
exercises are practiced upon the human body by anyone not a duly licensed
physician, osteopath, chiropractor, registered nurse and practical
nurse operating under a physician's directions, registered speech
pathologists and physical or occupational therapists who treat only
patients recommended by a licensed physician and operate only under
such physician's direction, whether with or without the use of
mechanical, therapeutic or bathing devices, and shall include Turkish
bathhouses. The term shall not include a regularly licensed hospital,
medical clinic or nursing home, duly licensed beauty parlors or barbershops.
Any book, magazine, newspaper or other printed or written
material or any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture, or other
pictorial representation or any statue or other figure, or any recording,
transcription or mechanical, chemical or electrical reproduction or
any other articles, equipment or machines.
Any person under the age of 18.
The showing of the human male or female genitals or pubic
area with less than a fully opaque covering, or the depicting of covered
male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
That to the average person applying contemporary community
standards:
The predominant appeal of the matter taken as a whole is to
prurient interest; i.e., a shameful or morbid interest in sexual conduct,
nudity, or excretion; and
The matter depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently
offensive matter; and
The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value.
Any preview, play, show, skit, film, dance or other exhibition
performance before an audience.
Any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation
or other legal entity.
Any material or device or performance is "pornographic for
minors" if it is primarily devoted to description or representation,
in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or
sadomasochistic abuse and:
To cause, permit, procure, counsel or assist.
The provision of services to paying guests in an establishment
providing food and beverages; including but not limited to hostessing,
hat checking, cooking, bartending, serving, table setting and clearing,
waiter and waitressing, and entertaining.
Any instrument or appliance primarily designed, promoted
or marketed for the purpose of artificially causing, simulating, stimulating,
or enhancing sexual conduct, except that any such device which is
sold, distributed or displayed for bona fide medical purposes shall
not be included within this definition.
It shall be unlawful for any person for pecuniary gain or other
consideration to:
A.
Knowingly disseminate, distribute or make available to the public
any obscene material or objects or sexual devices; or
B.
Knowingly engage or participate in any obscene performance made available
to the public; or
C.
Knowingly engage in commerce with materials depicting and describing
explicit sexual conduct, nudity, or excretion utilizing displays,
circulars, advertisements and other public sales efforts that promote
such commerce primarily on the basis of their prurient appeal; or
D.
Knowingly provide service to patrons in such a manner as to expose
to public view:
(1)
His or her genitals, pubic hair, buttocks, perineum, anal region
or pubic hair region;
(2)
Any device, costume or covering which gives the appearance of or
simulates the genitals, pubic hair, buttocks, perineum, anal region
or pubic hair region; or
(3)
Any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof;
or
E.
Knowingly lease, own or make available for such purposes a massage
establishment, or engage in or offer to engage in for pecuniary gain
or consideration the practice of massage as such conduct is defined
herein;
F.
Knowingly publicly display explicit sexual material or to fail to
take prompt action to remove the display or explicit sexual material
from property in his possession after learning of its existence;
G.
Knowingly promote the commission of any of the above-listed acts;
H.
Knowingly to furnish pornographic materials to minors.
A.
Actual notice of the obscene or pornographic nature of such material,
performance, or activity may be given to a person involved in or responsible
for such from the Township Manager, Zoning Officer, or other duly
authorized Township official.
A.
The Township may maintain an action of an equitable nature to enjoin
any person from owning, leasing, maintaining, managing, conducting
or operating a facility which is used for prohibited conduct as specified
herein.
B.
From and after service of the complaint in equity as provided for
in the Rules of Civil Procedure, all money or other valuable consideration
thereafter paid as an admission price or for services rendered or
as rent to an owner due to the continuation of said prohibited conduct
shall be turned over to the Township upon the issuance of an order
by the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County enjoining such activities.
C.
Preliminary and permanent injunctions may be issued to prevent the
further maintenance of such conduct. The procedures for obtaining
such injunctions shall be governed by the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil
Procedure. Upon the trial on the merits of the permanent injunction,
if the court finds a facility to be in violation of this chapter,
the court may issue an order closing the facility to all uses and
purposes for a period of one year. If the offenders or persons owning,
in control of or in charge of such facility certify that the illegal
activity has been abated and that the facility will no longer be used
for such illegal conduct, and post a bond in an amount not to exceed
the value of the personal property possessed or contained at such
place for the maintenance of the illegal activity, the court may release
such person or persons from the closure order. The bond shall be deposited
with the court prior to the release of any closure order and shall
be returned to the person posting said bond, without interest at the
expiration of one year, provided that the illegal activity is not
maintained or reestablished within that year.
A.
Upon judgment for the Township in legal proceedings brought pursuant
to this chapter, an accounting shall be made by such defendant or
defendants of all money or valuable consideration received by them
after the receipt of the requisite notice set forth herein. The court
may issue an order directing that such money or its equivalent and
any valuable consideration received shall be turned over to Peters
Township for deposit in its general fund.
B.
The Township reserves the right to pursue any and all other remedies
available to it and all such remedies shall be cumulative.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter
shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
commenced by the Township before a Magisterial District Judge, pay
a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorney's fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement of this
chapter. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment,
the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules
of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a
separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of the
Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
After conviction, in addition to any other penalty imposed for
violation of this chapter, Peters Township may revoke the occupancy
permit of the establishment until such time as it is satisfied that
no further illegal conduct as provided in this chapter shall be conducted
thereon.