Ordinance Amendment 

    OA04: 2004-2005

Sponsored by Gau, Hitzemann, Wiganowsky, Bruskewitz, Vogel, Willett, Brown, Martz, and

Hanson.

Synopsis:  Amends the existing zoning ordinance on adult bookstores to add adult entertainment establishments as a regulated business.   Currently, there is no provision in the County zoning ordinance which forbids adult entertainment establishments. 

Analysis:

This ordinance was drafted in response to the opening of an adult tavern in the Town of Bristol.  Because the ordinance was drafted hastily, it does not reflect the current state of the law.  It will be necessary to draft a substitute amendment to finalize the language of the ordinance to comply with requirements of federal court decisions which strictly limit the scope of adult entertainment regulations.

If this ordinance is not adopted, there is concern that other taverns may be opened in other towns.

Recommendation:

The DCTA has had a long-standing policy of rejecting piecemeal revisions of the County zoning ordinance in order to press for a comprehensive revision of the ordinance.     We have made exceptions to that policy, however, where it was necessary to help towns resist annexations or solve a severe and immediate problem.  This falls into that exception.  We recommend that towns allow this ordinance to be adopted, with modifications to improve it.