Within this article, the following definitions shall apply:
Adult Arcade.Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-operated or slug-operated or electronically, or mechanically-controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors, or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by the depicting or describing of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult Bookstore or Adult Video Store.A commercial establishment which as one of its principal business purposes offers for sale or rental for any form of consideration any one or more of the following:
(1) Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, videocassettes or video reproductions, slides, or other visual representations which depict or describe specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; or
(2) Instruments, devices, or paraphernalia which are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities.
Adult Cabaret.A nightclub, bar, restaurant, or similar commercial establishment which regularly features:
(1) Persons who appear in a state of nudity;
(2) Live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities; or
(3) Films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides, or other photographic reproductions which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult Motel.A hotel, motel or similar commercial establishment which:
(1) Offers accommodations to the public for any form of consideration; provides patrons with closed-circuit television transmissions, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides, or other photographic reproductions which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; and has a sign visible from the public right-of-way which advertises the availability of this adult type of photographic reproductions;
(2) Offers a sleeping room for rent for a period of time that is less than ten (10) hours; or
(3) Allows a tenant or occupant of a sleeping room to sub-rent the room for a period of time that is less than ten (10) hours.
Adult Motion Picture Theater.A commercial establishment where for any form of consideration, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions are regularly shown and are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult Tanning Salon.A commercial establishment which provides facilities for tanning the human skin, such as tanning beds, suntan lights, or other similar facilities, and regularly features for the entertainment of its clientele:
(1) Persons who appear in a state of nudity; or
(2) Live performances or style shows of lingerie performed by persons who appear in a state of nudity or which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities.
Adult Theater.A theater, concert hall, auditorium, or similar commercial establishment which regularly features persons who appear in a state of nudity or live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities.
Applicant.A person who must apply for a license by this article.
Child-Care Facility.A building used as a day nursery, children’s boarding home, child-placing agency or other place for the care or custody of children under 15 years of age licensed by the state pursuant to Texas Human Resources Code Section 42.041, et seq.
Church or Place of Religious Worship.A building in which persons regularly assemble for worship, intended primarily for purposes connected with faith, or for propagating a particular form of belief.
Dwelling.A house, duplex, apartment, townhouse, condominium, mobile home or any other building used for residential purposes.
Escort.A person who, for consideration, agrees or offers to act as a companion, guide, or date for another person, or who agrees or offers to privately model lingerie, or to privately perform a striptease for another person for a fee, tip, or other consideration.
Escort Agency.A business association which furnishes, offers to furnish, or advertises to furnish escorts as one of its primary business purposes, for a fee, tip, or other consideration.
Establishment.Includes any of the following:
(1) The opening or commencement of any sexually oriented business as a new business;
(2) The conversion of an existing business, whether or not a sexually oriented business, to any sexually oriented business;
(3) The addition of any sexually oriented business to any other existing sexually oriented business;
(4) The relocation of any sexually oriented business; or
(5) A location and place of business.
Hospital.A building used to provide health services for human inpatient medical care for the sick or injured, licensed pursuant to the Texas Hospital Licensing Law (Texas Health and Safety Code Section 241.001, et seq.) or operated by an agency of the federal government, or a convalescent facility licensed pursuant to Texas Health and Safety Code Section 242.001, et seq.
Licensee.A person in whose name a license to operate a sexually oriented business has been issued, as well as, the individual listed as an applicant on the application for a license on a person licensed under this article.
Nude Modeling Studio.Any place where a person who appears in a state of nudity or displays specified anatomical areas is provided to be observed, sketched, drawn, painted, sculptured, photographed, or similarly depicted by other persons who pay money or any form of consideration.
Nudity or a State of Nudity.(1) The appearance of a human bare buttock, anus, male genitals, female genitalia, pubic region or female breasts; or
(2) A state of dress which fails to opaquely cover a human buttock, anus, male genitals, female genitalia, pubic region or areola of the female breast;
Includes material that is painted or applied to the body, such as paint, liquid latex or employment of any device or covering intended to give the appearance of or simulate the parts of the body listed in subsections (1) or (2). Shall not include a mother in the act of nursing her child. |
Operates or Causes to be Operated.To cause to function or to put or keep in operation. A person may be found to be operating or causing to be operated a sexually oriented business whether or not that person is an owner, part owner, or licensee of the business.
Park.A tract of land maintained by the federal, state or local government or by a private homeowner’s association for the recreation and enjoyment by the general public or members of the homeowner’s association.
Person.An individual, proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity.
Public Building.A building used by federal, state or local government and open to the general public.
School.A building where persons regularly assemble for the purpose of instruction or education, together with the playgrounds, dormitories, stadiums and other structures or grounds used in conjunction therewith.
Seminude.A state of dress in which clothing covers no more than the genitals, pubic region, and areola of the female breast, as well as, portions of the body covered by supporting straps or devices.
Sexual Encounter Center.A business or commercial enterprise that, as one of its primary business purposes, offers for any form of consideration physical contact in the form of wrestling or tumbling between persons of the opposite sex or other activities between male and female persons and/or persons of the same sex, when one or more of the persons is in a state of nudity or seminude.
Sexually Oriented Business.An adult arcade, adult bookstore or adult video store, adult cabaret, adult motel, adult motion picture theater, adult tanning salon, adult theater, escort agency, nude modeling studio, sexual encounter center, or other commercial enterprise, the primary business of which is the offering of a service or the selling, renting, or exhibiting of devices or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer.
Specified Sexual Activities.Includes any of the following:
(1) The fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus, or female breasts;
(2) Sex acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including intercourse, oral copulation, or sodomy;
(3) Masturbation, actual or simulated; or
(4) Excretory functions as part of, or in connection with, any of the activities set forth in subsections
(1) through
(3) above.
Transfer of Ownership or Control of a Sexually Oriented Business.Includes any of the following:
(1) The sale, lease, or sublease of the business;
(2) The transfer of securities which constitute a controlling interest in the business, whether by sale, exchange, or similar means; or
(3) The establishment of a trust, gift, or other similar legal device which transfers the ownership or control of the business, except for transfer by bequest or other operation of the law upon the death of the person possessing the ownership or control.