2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS During the past cen years, Indianapolis has experienced a signi- Ficant grcwtn in the number and variety of adult entertainmen-c businesses located in its jurisdiction. An adult entertainment business, for the purposes of this study, is an establishment which primarily features sexually stimulating material or per- Formances. As of mid -1983 there were sixty-eight such businesses operating in this City. They were located at forty-three separate s i tes. The prol i Feraci on of these businesses heightened the coanun icy's awareness of [heir existence and resulted in numerous requests [hat the Ci ty control thei r presence. Beyond the moral objections raised by many citizens, it was also alleged that such businesses had a detrimental effect on property values and contributed to high crime rates where they were located. The Indianapolis Division of Planning undertook this study in July of 1983. Of the existing adult enterzainment sites, the study examined six representative locations ( the Study Area ) and the presence - or lack thereof - of certain relevant condi- tions therein_ It [hen compared these sites with six physically similar locations ( the Control Area ) containing no adult en- tertainment business. Both groups of sites were compared with the City as a whole. Because of their importance to the public welfare of the commun- ity, the study examined the factors of crime incidence during the period 1978 - 1982 and real estate value appreciation from 1979 - 1982. In support of limited real estate data on a small area level, the City collaborated with Indiana University in a national survey of real estate appraisers to develop a "best pro- fessional opinion" as to the effect of adult entertainment busi- nesses on surrounding real estate values. As discussed in 'Appendix III of this report, case law has firmly established the legal and constitutional basis for control of the use of land within their jurisdiction by states and municipalities in order to safeguard "the public health, safety, morals and gen- eral welfare of their citizens". The "public welfare", in this context, embraces the stabi I ization of property values and the promotion of desirable home surroundings. On the other hand, case law has also upheld the right of this business sector to operate in the community under the First and Fourteenth Armiend- mencs of the Consticutien. In establishing an ernpiric base to de[ermine whether controls were warranted in order to direct the location of [hese businesses, analyses of the da[a showed: E VER00003