2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

Whittier, California In 1978, the City of Whittier, citing "operational characteristics which may have a deleterious effect on immediately adjacent residential and commercial areas," defined and regulated adult uses through a conditional use permit.' The urgency measure was based on the Detroit dispersal model, pending a planning study of adult businesses and subsequent legislation, if necessary. The purpose of the study and eventual legislation was to protect adjacent commer- cial and residential districts within the City. from the "possible blighting or downgrading effect of adult businesses" although the study cautioned, however, that adult businesses were only- one of a variety of factors influencing the study areas. The study found higher turnover rates in commercial and residential areas adjacent to adult uses. A compilation of police statistics indicated that all of the nude model studios and three massage parlors were actively involved in prostitution and that a number of assaults and thefts had occurred on the premises. There were also numerous reports of excessive noise, drunkenness and pornographic litter connected to adult businesses. A comparison of 38 types of criminal activity between two time periods, 1970-73 and 1974-77, showed a total increase of 102 percent for the study area containing adult businesses while the city, as a whole, only had an eight percent increase. Citizens testified at several public hearings about their fears of walking on nearby streets, of their children being confronted by offensive individuals or exposed to sexually explicit material, and some reported that businesses had left the area. The report discussed the difficulty of assessing the moral and emotional impact of adult businesses on a neighborhood but suggested that it could be gauged by community outrage. The study concluded that the prolonged concentration of adult businesses adversely impacts neighborhoods, based on experiences in other municipalities, and recommended the regulation of a variety of defined sexually -oriented businesses by locational restrictions within portions of industrial areas and shopping centers subject to a conditional use permit. Austin, Texas In 1986, the City of Austin conducted a study to provide a factual basis for the development of a new ordinance regulating adult-oriented businesses.10 9 "Staff Report, Whittier City Planning Commission, Amendment to Zoning Regulations, Adult Businesses in C-2 Zone with Conditional Use Permit (Case No. 353.015), January 9, 1978. 10 "Report On Adult Oriented Businesses in Austin," Office of Land Development Services, City of Austin, May 19. 1986, 6 EVER00105