[Amended 5-6-2008 STM by Art. 7]
A.
Whereas, there is documented experience in many other cities including Boston, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Tacoma, Washington; Detroit, Michigan; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and St. Paul, Minnesota among other cities, showing that adult uses are distinguishable from other business uses and that the location of adult uses may degrade or adversely affect the quality of life in the areas of a community where they are located, often with impacts, including but not limited to increased levels of crime, blight, depreciation of property values and late hours of operation resulting in noise and traffic late into the night; and
B.
Whereas, it is the intention of the Town of Hopkinton to rely upon and reference the findings of the above municipalities and various detailed studies they have conducted that empirically document the adverse influences and effects of adult uses on surrounding properties; and
C.
Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton is predominantly residential in its character and development pattern and, although primarily residential, is composed of a mixture of residential, business, commercial, religious, school, park and open space uses, and such areas of use are, in many instances, located in close proximity to one another with the resulting conflicts in land use; and
D.
Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton desires to protect its residential lands from encroachment by commercial adult uses and to ensure and promote the town's image as a safe, pleasant and attractive place of residence for families with children, and to preserve and promote the peace and quiet enjoyment of these areas for all persons; and
E.
Whereas, it is a desire of the Town of Hopkinton to preserve and protect the safety of children and young people in the vicinity of schools and public parks where they may be expected to walk, congregate and play, and furthermore that children and young people not be subjected to confrontation with the existence of adult uses in the vicinity of schools and parks, or in commercial areas where there is significant patronage and presence of children and young people; and
F.
Whereas, the commercial areas of the Town of Hopkinton reflect greatly on its image in the region, and it is the desire of the Town of Hopkinton to promote a positive business community image, retain and promote safe and attractive business areas, and retain its rural character, free of crime and nuisance; and
G.
Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton as an aid to mitigating the above impacts of adult uses desires to physically separate commercial adult uses from residential, religious, school, park and open space uses, so that residents not be subjected to confrontation with the existence of adult uses in the vicinity of their residences, schools, parks and playgrounds and churches and chosen places of worship; and
H.
Whereas, adult uses engaging in the sale, rental or display of sexually explicit materials, including books, magazines, periodicals, pictures, photographs, slides, movies, videos, adult entertainment and live nudity, may legitimately be controlled by a municipality, either through concentrating in certain locations or separating from other uses which will be inordinately impacted by the sale, rental or display of sexually explicit materials, and furthermore MGL c. 40A, § 9A, specifically provides for municipal regulation of adult uses through special permits and standards related to location and separation of such uses; and
I.
Whereas, the Town of Hopkinton does not desire to suppress any speech activities protected by the First Amendment, but rather to enact a content-neutral ordinance concerned with the secondary effects of adult uses on the surrounding community, especially crime and effects upon children and family life, and therefore desires reasonable regulation of the location of adult uses in order to provide for the protection of the image of the community, its property values, and to protect the residents of the community from any adverse effects of such adult land uses, while providing to those who desire to patronize adult uses such an opportunity in areas within the Town which are appropriate for location of such uses; and
J.
Whereas, it is the intention of the Town of Hopkinton by the adoption of this Chapter to rely upon the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts pertaining to this subject matter, to regulate and limit the location of adult uses and to promote the Town of Hopkinton's great interest in protecting and preserving the quality of its neighborhoods, commercial districts and the quality of life through effective land use planning;