[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Board of the Township of Buchanan 3-13-1979 by Ord. No. 18. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Township of Buchanan Public Entertainment Ordinance."
The purpose of this chapter is to regulate public commercial entertainers and servers involving dancing, monologues, pantomimes, and other personal type of body exhibitions, contortions or display, and personal service provided by any waitress, barmaid, waiter, bartender, performer, or other person by establishments within the Township where such public commercial entertainment and personal service of customers is presented, promoted, permitted or provided, to thereby prohibit any lewd, obscene, immoral, or unduly sexually stimulating entertainment acts, shows, or personal exhibitions or displays.
A. 
No person, firm or corporation shall permit or allow any form of commercial public entertainment or personal service by any waitress, barmaid, waiter, bartender, performer, or other person of customers to be presented or provided within his, its, or their establishment, nor shall any such person engage in, present, or provide any form of public entertainment or personal service of customers within the Township of Buchanan, involving any lewd, obscene, immoral or unduly sexually stimulating dancing, monologues, pantomimes, or other type of body exhibitions, contortions, display or personal service. Waitresses and barmaids with no covering on their breasts, and waitresses, barmaids, waiters or bartenders without substantial covering of the genital area are specifically prohibited.
B. 
The prohibited conduct, display or personal service prohibited by this chapter is hereby defined as that which, when taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex, which portrays sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and which, taken as a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, so that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that such conduct, display or personal service appeals to the prurient interest. The proprietor of any establishment offering public entertainment and the performer and the personal server shall have the burden of proving compliance with the foregoing provisions in the event of any controversy concerning the same.
C. 
Any establishment within the Township of Buchanan wherein public commercial entertainment by performers of personal service of customers is permitted shall comply with the following regulations prior to the allowance or presentation of such entertainment:
(1) 
No such entertainment or personal service shall be allowed within any establishment where intoxicating liquors or beer or wine are served unless the entertainer or personal server is at least 21 years of age.
(2) 
The establishment shall be equipped with separate male and female dressing rooms adequate in size to comfortably accommodate the performers and the servers, and located in close proximity to the area set aside for performances and serving. In no event shall such dressing rooms be less than 64 square feet in area.
(3) 
The area utilized for performances shall be separated from the area occupied by patrons and customers by either a raised stage, railing, or other permanent divider-type construction.
(4) 
No performers or personal server shall be allowed to dance, mingle, eat, or drink with patrons or customers in the establishments during the period of their employment in the establishment and the proprietor shall be responsible for enforcing compliance with such regulation.
(5) 
No such entertainment or service shall be permitted until an annual license therefor has first been obtained from the Township Clerk of the Township of Buchanan. Such license shall not be issued until the Building and Zoning Department of the Township has inspected the premises and ascertained that all physical requirements have been complied with and the Police and Fire Departments have reported favorably on previous operation, if any, of the establishment.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A license fee as established by resolution of the Township Board from time to time shall accompany any application for an annual entertainment license to help defray the cost of administering within the chapter. All licenses shall expire on May 1 of each year, subject to renewal under the terms and conditions herein contained.
A. 
Any person, firm, or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation continues to exist shall constitute a separate offence.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
B. 
In addition to the foregoing, the Township of Buchanan, through the Township Board of such Township, reserves the right to revoke any entertainment license issued under the terms of the within chapter in the event of a violation of any of the regulations herein contained.
This chapter shall take effect on April 22, 1979.