2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

and to require their dispersal. Some of the communities include Islip, Huntington, Brookhav- en, Smithtown and Babylon on Long Island; St. Petersburg, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Orange County, California; Los Angeles, California; Seattle, Washington; Camden, New Jersey; Kansas City, Missouri; Jackson, Mississippi; San Diego, California; and, Chicago, Illinois. Studies and reports have documented the impacts or secondary effects of adult entertainment establishments located within New York City. A 1977 City Planning Commission report noted that the concentration of adult establishments in the Times Square area created adverse economic and social impacts. The Commission related the proliferation of adult entertainment uses to a decade -old absence of major investment in that area, citing tax arrearage, sales declines, the loss of jobs, and closed businesses. Increases in felonious criminal activity was characterized as "overwhelming" in areas where there were concentrations of adult uses. Complaints for felonious assault were 142.3 percent higher in police posts with one or more adult uses compared to posts without an adult use. In 1994, the Times Square Business Improvement District published a study, "Secondary Effects of the Concentration of Adult Use Establishments in the Times .Square Area." While conditions in the Times Square area have improved dramatically since 1977, the study found that the rate of increase of total assessed property values for the study blocks with adult uses did not increase as much as the rate of increase for the control blocks without adult uses. In addition, there were almost twice as many complaints about crime for the study blocks with adult entertainment establishments as nearby control blocks without adult uses. Property and business owners expressed the view that adult uses located in the area, particularly in concentration, have a negative impact on their businesses, deterring potential customers. The study expresses the concern that the recent proliferation of adult uses (from 36 in June, 1993 to 43 in April, 1994) constitutes a threat to more recent commercial prosperity and residential stability in the area. Many residents of the communities in which adult entertainment establishments are located have complained about the impacts from these establishments. These impacts include: exposure of children and teenagers to graphic sexual images, increased crime, diminishing property values, adverse effects upon the climate for other types of commercial activities and overall negative influences upon community character. Sexually explicit business signs or displays visible from the public street are particularly offensive. The public's concern about the impact on residential neighborhoods of even a single adult entertainment use, the threat of a proliferation of adult entertainment establishments in the city's neighborhoods, and especially a concentration of adult uses, is evidenced by a review 61 EVER00159