2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

App. B / Adult Businesses 4. Requiring Existing Businesses to Comply with New Zoning Zoning ordinances can require existing sexually -oriented businesses to close their operations provided they do not foreclose the operation of such businesses in new locations. Under such provisions, an existing business is allowed to remain at its present location, even though it is a noncon- forming use, for a limited period. The Minnbsota Supreme Court has explained the theory this way: The theory behind this legislative device is that the use- ful life of the nonconforming use corresponds roughly to the amortization period, so that the owner is not de- prived of his property until the end of its useful life. In addition, the monopoly position granted during the am- ortization period theoretically provides the owner with compensation for the lose of some property interest, since the period specified rarely corresponds precisely to the useful life of any particular structure constituting the nonconforming use. Naeaele Outdoor Advertising Co. u. Village of Minnetonka, 162 N.W.2d 206,213 (Minn. 1968). Such provisions applied to sexually oriented businesses have been said to be "uniformly upheld." Dumas u. City of Dallas, 648 F. Supp. 1061, 1071 (N.D. Tex. 1986), aff'd, FW I PBS, Inc. u. City of Dallas, 837 F.2d 1298 (6th Cir. 1988) (citing cases). As detailed in the first section of this report, there are significant secondary impacts upon communities related to the location of sexually oriented businesses. These irr,; acts are intensified when sexually oriented businesses are lo- cated in residential areas or near other sensitive uses and when sexually oriented businesses are concentrated near each other or near alcohol oriented businesses. The Working Group believes that evidence from studies such as those described in the first section of this report and anecdotal evidencA from neighborhood residents and police officers 420 Minnesota Attorney General's Report / App. a should be used to support the need for zoning ordinances which address these problems. Recommendations (1) Communities should document findings of adverse sec- ondary effects of sexually oriented businesses prior to enacting zoning regulations to control these uses so that such regulations can be upheld if challenged in court. (2) To reduce the adverse effects of sexually oriented busi- nesses, communities should adopt zoning regulations to set distance requirements between sexually oriented businesses and sensitive uses, including but not limited to residential areas, schools, child care facilities, churches and parks. (3) To reduce adverse impacts from concentration of sexu- ally oriented businesses, communities should adopt zon- ing ordinances which set distance requirements between liquor establishments and sexually oriented businesses and should consider restricting sexually oriented busi- nesses to one. use per building. (4) Communities should require existing businesses to com- ply with new zoning or other regulation pertaining to sexually oriented businesses within a reasonable time so that prior uses will conform to new laws. IV. Licensing and Other Regulations Licensing and other regulations may also be used to re- duce the adverse effects of sexually oriented businesses. The critical requirements which communities must keep in mind are that regulations must be narrowly crafted to address adverse secondary effects, they must be reasonably related to reduction of these effects and they must be capable of objective application. If these standards can be met, licen8- 421