2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

App. B / Adult Businesses borhood crime rates. The St. Paul Police Department has determined that St. Paul's street prostitution is concentrated in a "street prostitution zone" immediately adjacent to the intersection where the sexually oriented businesses are lo- cated. Police statistics for 1986 show that, of 279 prostitution arrests for which specific locations could be identified, 70 percent (195) were within the "street prostitution zone." Moreover, all of the locations with 10 or more arrests for prostitution were within this zone. The location of sexually oriented businesses has also cre- ated a perception in the community that this is an unsafe and undesirable part of the city. In 1983, Western State Bank, which is currently located across the street from an adult bookstore, hired a research firm to survey area resi- dents regarding their preferred location for a bank and their perceptions of different locations. A sample of 305 people were given a list of locations and asked, "Are there any of these .locations where you would not feel safe conducting your banking business?" No more than 4 percent of the respondents said they would feel unsafe banking at other locations in the city. But 36 percent said they would feel unsafe banking at Dale and University, the corner where the sexually oriented ausi- nesses are concentrated. The Working Group reviewed the 1987 40 -Acre Study on Adult Entertainment prepared by the Division of Planning in St. Paul's Department of Planning and Economic Devel- opment. This study sununarized testimony presented to the Planning Commission regarding neighborhood problems: Residents in the University/Dale area report frequent sex-related harassment by motorists and pedestrians in the neighborhood. Although it cannot be proved that the harassers are patrons of adult businesses, it is reason- able to suspect such a connection. Moreover, neighbor- hood residents submitted evidence to the Planning Commission in the form of discarded pornographic lit- erature allegedly found in the streets, sidewalks, bushes Minnesota Attorney General's Report / App. B and alleys near adult businesses. Such literature is sexually very explicit, even on the cover, and under the present circumstances becomes available to minors even though its sale to minors is prohibited. Testimony The Working Group heard testimony that a concentration of sexually oriented businesses has serious impacts upon the surrounding neighborhood. The Working Group heard that pornographic materials are left in adjacent lots. One person reported to the police that he had found 60 pieces of pornog- raphic material in a church parking lot near a sexually oriented business. Neighbors report finding used condoms on their lawns and sidewalks and that sex acts with prosti- tutes occur on streets and alleys in plain view of families and children. The Working Group heard testimony that arrest rates understate the level of crime associated with sexually oriented businesses. Many robberies and thefts from "johns" and many assaults upon prostitutes are never reported to the police. Prostitution also results in harassment of neighborhood residents. Young girls on their way to school or young women on their way to work are often propositioned by johns. The Flick theater caters to homosexual trade, and male prostitu- tion has been noted in the area. Neighborhood boys and men are also accosted on the street. A police officer testified that one resident had informed him that he found used condoms in his yard all the time. Both his teenage son and daughter had been solicited on their way to school and to work. The Working Group heard testimony that in the Frogtown neighborhood, immediately north of the University -Dale in- tersection in St. Paul, there has been a change over time in the quality of life since the sexually oriented businesses moved into the area. The Working Group heard that the neighborhood used to be primarily middle class, did not have a high crime rate and did not have prostitution. St. Paul 388 389