The Town Council of the Town of Farmington, Connecticut, finds:
A. The operation of adult-oriented establishments in the
Town requires special regulation and supervision by the Town to protect, preserve
and promote the health, safety and welfare of the patrons, clients or customers
and employees of such establishments, as well as the health, safety and welfare
of the Town's citizens. Further, protecting order and morality, preserving
the character and preventing the deterioration of the Town's neighborhoods,
avoiding blight, decreasing crime and juvenile delinquency, promoting retail
trade, maintaining property values and ensuring sanitary and safe public places
are desirable objectives of the community and its leaders.
B. Statistics and studies performed by a substantial number
of cities and towns in the United States indicate that:
(1) Large numbers of persons frequent such adult-oriented
establishments, especially those which provide closed booths, cubicles, studios
and rooms for the private viewing of so-called “adult motion pictures”
and/or videotapes and/or live entertainment;
(2) 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 specified sexual activities;
(3) 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, studios
and rooms;
(4) Doors, curtains, blinds and/or other closures installed
in or on the entrances and/or exits of such booths, cubicles, studios and
rooms which are closed while such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms are
in use encourage patrons, clients or customers using such booths, cubicles,
studios and rooms to engage in specified sexual activities therein with prostitutes
and/or with other persons and/or by themselves, thereby promoting and encouraging
prostitution and the commission of specified sexual activities which cause
blood, semen, urine or other bodily secretion 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;
(5) Booths, cubicles, studios and rooms which are closed
while such booths, cubicles, studios and rooms are in use often contain holes
that have been cut or smashed out of the walls or other partitioning material.
These holes permit the inhabitant of one booth to engage in specified sexual
activities with the inhabitant of the adjoining booth, cubicle, studio or
room. These so-called "glory holes" promote
and encourage specified sexual acts to occur between persons anonymously.
Anonymous sexual contact poses a higher risk of the spread of communicable
diseases, including the AIDS virus and Hepatitis B and other sexually transmitted
diseases. Further, the existence of glory holes in booths, cubicles, studios
and rooms at adult-oriented establishments provides an increased risk that
blood, semen, urine or other bodily secretion will 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) Specified sexual activities often occur at unregulated
adult-oriented establishments which provide live adult entertainment. Specified
sexual activities include sexual physical contact between employees and patrons,
clients or customers of adult-oriented establishments, and specifically include
lap dancing, and/or manual or oral touching or fondling of specified anatomical
areas, whether clothed or unclothed. Such casual sexual physical contact between
strangers may result in the transmission of communicable diseases which would
be detrimental to the health of the patrons, clients or customers and employees
of such adult-oriented establishments;
(7) The unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments
is associated with an increase in the incidence of sex-related crimes and
also has a disruptive effect on the surrounding neighborhood by causing excessive
noise, parking problems, the presence of discarded sexually oriented material
on residential lawns and the performance of sexual acts in public places;
and
(8) The reasonable regulation and supervision of such adult-oriented
establishments tends to discourage prostitution, other sex-related crimes,
anonymous, high-risk sexual contact and/or high-risk unsanitary sexual activity,
excessive noise and property devaluation, thereby decreasing the incidence
of communicable diseases and sex-related crimes, and thereby promoting and
protecting the health, safety and welfare of the employees and the public
who patronize such establishments, and protecting the health, safety and property
interests of the Town and its citizens.
C. The continued unregulated operation of adult-oriented
establishments is and would be detrimental to the general welfare, health
and safety of the citizens of Farmington.
D. 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 in order
to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
E. It is not the intent of the Council, in enacting this
chapter, to deny to any person rights to speech protected by the United States
and/or State Constitutions, nor is it the intent of the Council to impose
any limitations or restrictions on the content of any communicative materials
including sexually oriented films, videotapes, books and/or other materials.
Further, by enacting this chapter, the Council 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 Constitutions, 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 following words and phrases shall
mean:
ADULT BOOKSTORE
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 herein, and in conjunction therewith has facilities for
the presentation of adult entertainment, as defined herein, and including
adult-oriented films, movies or live entertainment, for observation by patrons,
clients or customers therein.
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT
Includes any exhibition of any adult-oriented motion pictures, 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 personal services offered customers. It also 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 herein, for observation
by patrons, clients or customers thereof.
ADULT MINI MOTION-PICTURE THEATER
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 herein, for observation by patrons,
clients or customers therein.
ADULT MOTION-PICTURE THEATER
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 herein, for observation by patrons,
clients or customers therein.
ADULT-ORIENTED ESTABLISHMENT
Shall include, without limitation, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture
theaters, adult mini motion-picture theaters and further means any premises
to which the public, patrons, clients or customers or members are invited
or admitted and wherein an entertainer provides adult entertainment, 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 or wherein an entertainer
provides adult entertainment, when such adult entertainment is held, conducted,
operated or maintained for profit, direct or indirect, or not for profit.
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.
EMPLOYEE
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.
ENTERTAINER
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.
INSPECTOR
The Director of Health, the Chief of Police, the Fire Marshal, their
agents or representatives, or any Town employee designated to make inspections
for health, fire, building safety, public safety, zoning purposes, violations
of this chapter, or for violations of other laws and ordinances of the Town.
MINOR
Shall be deemed to refer to a person under the age of 18 years.
OPERATOR
Any person, partnership, corporation or other entity operating, conducting
or maintaining an adult-oriented establishment.
SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS
A.
Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region,
buttock(s), female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola;
and
B.
Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely
opaquely covered.
SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITIES
A.
Simulated or actual:
(1)
Showing of human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
(2)
Acts of masturbation, sexual intercourse, sodomy, bestiality, necrophilia,
sadomasochistic abuse, fellatio or cunnilingus;
(3)
Fondling or erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttock(s)
or female breast(s);
(5)
Excretory functions as part of or in connection with any of the activities set forth in Subsections
(1) through
(4).
B.
Provided that, however, the definition of "specified sexual activities"
shall not apply to any medical publications or films or bona fide educational
publication or films; any art or photography publications which devote 25%
of the linage of each issue to articles and advertisements dealing with subjects
of art or photography; any 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; publications or films which
describe and report different cultures and which, from time to time, publish
or show photographs or depiction of nude or seminude persons when describing
cultures in which nudity or seminudity is indigenous to the population.
In addition to any fines or penalties imposed herein, this chapter may
be enforced by injunctive procedure in the superior court.
Should any court of competent jurisdiction declare any section, clause
or provision of this chapter to be unconstitutional, such decision shall affect
only such section, clause or provision so declared unconstitutional and shall
not affect any other section, clause or provision of this chapter.
In construing this chapter, masculine or neuter pronouns shall be substituted
for those of feminine form and vice versa, and the plural of the singular
and singular of the plural shall be substituted in any case in which the context
may require.