2005/06/15 Council Agenda Packet

Consultants' Final Report - Page 11 constitutional in Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. 14 This model has been adopted by numerous cities including Los Angeles and twelve other Southern California cities for controlling adult businesses.15 While the dispersal model has been found constitutionally valid, several subsequent court decisions have limited the way in which municipalities can adopt 1 4 427 U.S. 50 (1976) (Hereinafter Mini Theatres). This decision is often cited as the legal basis for a dispersal approach, however the opinion appears to support the constitutionality of both the dispersal and concentration models: It is not our function to appraise the wisdom of its [Detroit's] decision to require adult theaters to be separated rather than concentrated in the same areas. In either event, the city's interest in attempting to preserve the quality of urban life is one that must be accorded high respect. Moreover, the city must be allowed a reasonable opportunity to experiment with solutions to admittedly serious problems (427 U.S. 50, 71). Indeed the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutionality of the concentration model in Renton, "Cities may regulate adult theaters by dispersing them, as in Detroit, or by effectively concentrating them, as in Renton."(infra note 16 at 52). 15 The best single source for information on this topic is the Los Angeles City Council Planning Committee. According to the LA Study: Locally, the cities of Bellflower and Norwalk have enacted ordinances requiring adult bookstores and theaters to obtain a conditional use permit. As a part of their study the City of Bellflower surveyed over 90 cities in Southern California to determine how other cities were controlling adult bookstores. Of the cities which responded to the Bellflower survey, 12 require a conditional use permit for new bookstores. The conditions for obtaining such a permit generally include dispersal and distance requirements based upon the Detroit model. Bellflower also includes. (LA Studv supra note at 12). The LA Studv also presents a table listing 9 cities nationally that have taken a dispersal zoning approach (Id., Table 11). EVER00351