[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Suffield 5-17-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-01. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Adult-oriented establishments, as hereinafter defined, require special
supervision from public safety agencies in order to protect and preserve
the health, safety and welfare of the Town's citizens.
B.
Unregulated operation of adult-oriented establishments, including, without limitation, those specifically defined in § 134-2 hereof, would be detrimental to the general welfare, health and safety of citizens of Suffield, and especially its youth.
C.
The Constitution and laws of the State of Connecticut grant to the
Town powers, especially police power, to enact reasonable legislation
and measures to regulate and supervise adult-oriented establishments
as hereinafter defined in order to protect the public health, safety
and welfare.
D.
It is not the intent of this chapter to deny any person rights to
speech protected by the Constitutions of the United States and of
the State of Connecticut nor is it the intent of this chapter to impose
any additional limitations or restrictions on the contents of any
communicative materials, including sexually oriented films, videotapes,
books or other materials. Further, this chapter does not intend to
deny or restrict the rights of any adult to obtain or view any sexually
oriented materials protected by the Constitutions of the United States
and of the State of Connecticut nor constitutionally protected rights
that distributors or exhibitors of such sexually oriented materials
may have to sell, distribute or exhibit such materials.
For the purpose of this chapter, the words and phrases used
herein shall have the following meanings, unless otherwise clearly
indicated by the context:
Includes any amusement machine that is regularly used for
presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis
on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities
or specified anatomical areas, as defined below, for observation by
patrons therein.
An establishment having a substantial or significant portion
of its stock and trade in books, films, videocassettes, or magazines
and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized by
their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below,
and in conjunction therewith having facilities for the presentation
of adult entertainment, as defined below, and including adult-oriented
films, movies or live entertainment, for observation by patrons therein.
Includes any exhibition of any adult-oriented motion pictures,
videos, live performance, display or dance of any type which has a
significant or substantial portion of such performance any actual
or simulated performance of specified sexual activities or exhibition
and viewing of specified anatomical areas, removal of articles of
clothing or appearing unclothed, pantomime, modeling, or any other
personal services offered customers.
An enclosed building with a capacity of fewer than 50 persons
regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below,
for observation by patrons therein.
An enclosed building with a capacity of 50 or more persons
regularly used for presenting material distinguished or characterized
by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified
sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined below,
for observation by patrons therein.
Includes, without limitation, adult bookstores, adult motion-picture
theaters, adult video galleries and adult mini motion-picture theaters
and further means any premises to which the public, patrons or members
are invited or admitted and wherein an entertainer provides adult
entertainment to a member of the public, a patron or a member, when
such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained
for a profit, direct or indirect, or which premises are so physically
arranged as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms, studios, compartments
or stalls separate from the common areas of the premises for the purpose
of viewing adult-oriented motion pictures. An adult-oriented establishment
includes, without limitation, any adult entertainment studio or any
premises that are physically arranged and used as such, whether advertised
or represented as an adult entertainment studio, rap studio, exotic
dance studio, encounter studio, sensitivity studio, modeling studio,
or any other term of like import.
[Amended 12-19-2019]
Includes any machine which, upon the payment of a charge or upon the insertion of a coin, slug, token, plate or disk, may be operated by the public for the use as a game, entertainment or amusement, whether or not registering a score and whether or not electronically operated, and shall include but not be limited to such devices as pinball machines, Skee-Ball, mechanical grab machines, electronic baseball, football, hockey or basketball machines, any and all air-propelled machines or games, pool tables, shooting games, any and all video games and all other games and operations similar thereto, under whatever name they may be indicated, including video monitoring machines. This definition shall not apply to those items generally described as jukeboxes or billiard tables or pool tables in billiard or pool parlors solely designated as such and permitted under Chapter 315, Zoning Regulations.
Any and all persons, including independent contractors, who
work in or at or render any services directly related to the operation
of an adult-oriented establishment.
Any person who provides entertainment within an adult-oriented
establishment as defined in this section, whether or not a fee is
charged or accepted for entertainment and whether or not entertainment
is provided as an employee or independent contractor.
The Zoning Enforcement Officer, Fire Marshal, Director of
Health, any designee of the foregoing, or any police officer or constable
of the Town of Suffield, or any other employee or agent of the Town
of Suffield authorized to inspect premises regulated under this chapter
or to take action authorized by this chapter, any other ordinance
or regulation of the Town of Suffield, or any state or federal law
or to require correction of unsatisfactory conditions on any such
premises.
[Amended 12-19-2019]
Shall be deemed to refer to a person under the age of 18
years.
Any person, partnership, corporation or other legal entity
operating, conducting or maintaining an adult-oriented establishment.
As used in this chapter, is not intended to include the publication,
sale or distribution of any medical publications or films or bona
fide educational publications or films; any art or photography publications
which devote 25% of the lineage of each issue to articles and advertisement
dealing with the subject of art or photography; any news periodical
which reports or describes current events and which, from time to
time, publishes photographs of nude or seminude persons in connection
with the dissemination of the news; or any publications or films which
describe and report different cultures and which, from time to time,
publish or show photographs or depictions of nude or seminude persons
when describing cultures in which nudity or seminudity is indigenous
to the population.
A.
No operator or employee of an adult-oriented establishment shall
allow or permit any minor to loiter in any part of such establishment,
including parking lots immediately adjacent to such establishment
used by patrons of such adult-oriented establishment.
B.
Every adult-oriented establishment doing business in the Town shall
be well lighted at all times and be physically arranged in such a
manner that the entire interior portion of the booths, cubicles, rooms
or stalls, wherein adult entertainment is provided, shall be clearly
visible from the common areas of the premises. Visibility into such
booths, cubicles, rooms or stalls shall not be blocked or obscured
by doors, curtains, partitions, drapes, or any other obstruction whatsoever.
It shall be unlawful to install enclosed booths, cubicles, rooms or
stalls within adult-oriented establishments for whatever purpose,
but especially for the purpose of providing for the secluded viewing
of adult-oriented motion pictures, or other types of adult-oriented
entertainment.
C.
The operator of each adult-oriented establishment shall be responsible
to ensure that any room or other areas used for the purpose of viewing
adult-oriented motion pictures or other types of live adult entertainment
shall be well lighted and readily accessible at all times and shall
be continuously open to view in their entirety. The premises shall
be equipped with overhead lighting fixtures of sufficient intensity
to illuminate every place to which patrons are permitted access at
an illumination of not less than one footcandle as measured at the
floor level. It shall be the duty of the operator and its agents to
ensure that the illumination described above is maintained at all
times when any patron is present in the premises.
D.
Every act or omission by an employee constituting a violation of
the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed the act or omission
of the operator, if such act or omission occurs either with the express
or implied authorization, knowledge, or approval of the operator,
including any act or omission as a result of the operator's negligent
failure to supervise the employee's conduct; the operator shall
be punishable for such act or omission in the same manner as if the
operator committed the act or caused the omission.
E.
An operator shall be responsible for the conduct of all employees
while on the premises, and any act or omission of any employee constituting
a violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed the
act or omission of the operator for purposes of determining whether
the operator shall be subject to the penalties imposed by this chapter.
F.
All adult-oriented establishments shall be open to inspection at
all reasonable times by any inspector of the Town.
G.
Advertisements, displays or other promotional materials displaying
or depicting specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities
shall not be shown or exhibited so as to be visible or audible to
the public from adjacent streets, sidewalks or walkways or from other
areas outside the establishment, and all building openings, entries
and windows for adult-oriented uses shall be located, covered or screened
in such manner as to prevent the interior of such premises from being
viewed from outside the establishment.
H.
The premises shall be open for business no earlier than 10:00 a.m.
nor later than 12:00 midnight.
I.
Any person seeking to become an operator of an adult-oriented establishment
must first obtain a special use permit from the Suffield Planning
and Zoning Commission.
A.
Any applicant for a special use permit must be a citizen of the United
States at least 18 years of age.
B.
Such applicant shall not have been convicted in this or any other
state of any of the following crimes within three years of the date
of filing the application:
(1)
Prostitution or soliciting a prostitute, in Connecticut being a violation
of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-82 or 53a-83.
(2)
Promotion or permitting prostitution, in Connecticut being a violation
of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-85, 53a-86, 53a-87,
or 53a-89.
(3)
Sexual assault, in Connecticut being a violation of any violation
of the following sections of the Connecticut General Statutes: §§ 53a-70,
53a-70a, 53a-70b, 53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b and 53a-73a.
C.
An applicant shall not have been convicted of an obscenity offense
in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-194,
53a-196a, 53a-196b or 53a-196c within two years of the date of filing
the application.
D.
The fact that any conviction is on appeal shall not affect the disqualification
of the applicant unless and until the conviction is reversed.
F.
If the applicant is not the owner of the subject premises, the owner
must consent to the application and meet the same requirements and
shall be jointly and severally responsible with the applicant and
any subsequent permit holder for complying with these regulations.
G.
This special use shall run with the land, provided that any subsequent
owner and any subsequent person operating the adult-oriented establishment
continue to meet these qualifications and the other provisions of
these regulations. If such person is other than an individual, then
the principal officer(s) of any corporation or controlling members
of any limited liability company or a general partner(s) of any partnership
must meet these qualifications.
A.
Any person, partnership, corporation or other legal entity that is
found to have violated this chapter shall be fined $150 for each such
violation.
B.
Each violation of this chapter shall be considered a separate offense,
and each day on which a violation occurs or continues, after the time
for the correction of the violation given in any order has elapsed,
will be considered a separate violation of this chapter.
[Amended 12-19-2019]
