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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 2720 i CITY OF RENTON, WASHINGTON RESOLUTION NO. 2720 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF RENTON, WASHINGTON, ADOPTING FINDINGS OF FACT IN SUPPORT OF AN ORDINANCE REGULATING AND LICENSING THE BUSINESSES, MANAGERS, AND EMPLOYEES THAT PROVIDE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT IN THE CITY -OF RENTON. WHEREAS, cities have the right to enact laws for the protection of the public health, safety and general welfare; and WHEREAS, various Washington State municipalities have found it is necessary for the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate businesses, managers, and employees that provide adult entertainment; and WHEREAS, the City Council has adopted ordinances relating to adult businesses and adult entertainment that regulate adult motion picture theatres, massage parlors and massagists, and adult entertainment in businesses licensed by the Washington Liquor Control Board in order to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the City as well as to protect and preserve the quality of the City' s neighborhoods, commercial districts, and the quality of urban life ; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that adult entertainment, including nude and semi-nude dancing, in public establishments is frequently linked to patron, employee, and owner participation in criminal activity including controlled substance violations, liquor law violations, prostitution, and, generally, increased criminal activity; and 1 a RESOLUTION N0. 2720 WHEREAS, the City takes notice of the experiences of other cities and counties of the specific adverse impacts of businesses providing adult entertainment including nude and semi-nude dancing, specifically in Bothel, Bremerton, Seattle, Kent, King County, and Snohomish County as permitted by the United States Supreme Court in the case of City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres; and WHEREAS, the City has previous experience with adult use businesses and has noted an increase in criminal activity in and around those businesses ; and WHEREAS, testimony has previously been presented to the City Council and its committees concerning the adverse secondary impacts of businesses providing adult entertainment as part of the study effort undertaken by the City prior to its adoption of an ordinance regulating the location of adult motion picture theatres, such testimony and study resulting in findings of fact adopted by the City Council and approved by the United States Supreme Court in City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres; and WHEREAS, the Washington State Supreme Court in the case of O'Day V. King County, 109 Wn. 2d 796, has approved the constitutionality of a King County ordinance regulating nude dancing, and the City Council is aware of, and relies upon that decision in drafting its regulations; and WHEREAS, the court in O'Day v. King County has found regulations similar to the ones being considered by the City Council as being regulation of conduct, and not expression; and WHEREAS, the City Council seeks to regulate only the negative secondary effects of adult entertainment, and does not intend to 2 'L RESOLUTION NO. 2720 regulate the content of the entertainment, unless that content is obscene; and WHEREAS, the City Council intends to impose only reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on free speech to the extent any regulation does impinge free speech; and WHEREAS, the City Council has been informed that the case of O'Day v. King County requires the court to give a constitutional construction to these regulations; and WHEREAS, the City of Renton presently has no businesses that it is aware of that would be regulated by the proposed regulations on adult entertainment, and is unaware of any proposal to locate such a business within the city limits of the City of Renton; and WHEREAS, the City Council wishes adult entertainment regulations to be in place prior to location of any such business within the city limits of the City of Renton, in order to prevent or minimize the negative secondary effects of such businesses; NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RENTON, WASHINGTON, DO RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. The above findings are true and correct. SECTION II. This resolution will serve as the basis for the adoption of an ordinance regulating and licensing businesses, managers, and employees that provide adult entertainment in the City of Renton. 3 s RESOLUTION NO. 27.20 PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL this 23rd day of may , 1988. Ma ne E 11 otor, City Clerk APPROVED BY THE MAYOR this 23rd day of May , 1988. Earl Clymerj ayor L Approved as to form: Lawrence J. Wa en, .City -Attorney Res. 19: 5-20-88: as. 4