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Home My WebLink About3958 ORDINANCE NO. ~d~ s, 0 0s WHEREAS, the Bremerton City Council finds that erotic dance studios, if unregulated, will likely lead to an increase in prostitution, venereal disease, drug and alcohol offenses and other criminal activity; and WHEREAS, erotic dance studios sometimes are fronts for or operated by persons associated with organized criminal activities and the need to scrutinize such dance studios is thereby enhanced; and WHEREAS, the law enforcement resources available for responding to problems associated with or created by erotic dance studios are limited and are best conserved by regulating and licensing erotic dance studios and those associated with them; and WHEREAS, the public health, safety, welfare and convenience require that erotic dance studios and their employees be regulated and licensed in order to reduce the potential for harm; now, therefore THE CITY COUNCL OF THE CITY OF BREMERTON DOES HEREBY ORDAIN: SECTION 1: PURPOSE - The purpose of this Ordinance is to regulate erotic dance studios to the end that the many types of criminal activities frequently engendered by such studios will be curtailed. However, it is recognized that such regulation cannot, de facto, approach prohibition otherwise, a protected form of expression would vanish. This Ordinance represents a balancing of competing interests: reduced criminal activity through the regulation of erotic dance studios versus the protected rights of erotic dancers and patrons. SECTION 2: DEFINITIONS - In this Ordinance, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly requires otherwise: a. Inspector - Business License Inspector. b. Council - Bremerton City Council. 1 c. Dancer - A person who dances or otherwise performs for an erotic dance studio and who seeks to arouse or excite the patrons' sexual desires. d. Department - Planning Department. e. Erotic dance studio - A fixed place of business which emphasizes and seeks, through one or more dancers, to arouse or excite the patrons' sexual desires. SECTION 3: PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE OF EROTIC DANCE STUDIO - It shall be prima facie evidence that a business is an erotic dance studio when one or more dancers displays or exposes, with less than a full opaque covering, that portion of the female breast lower than the upper edge of the areola. SECTION 4: CERTAIN ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED - No person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity shall publicly display or expose or suffer the public display or exposure, with less than a full opaque covering, of any portion of a person's genitals, pubic area or buttocks in a lewd or obscene fashion. SECTION 5: EROTIC DANCE STUDIO LICENSE - APPLICATION, ISSUANCE - a. Application for erotic dance studio license shall be made to the Inspector. b. An application for erotic dance studio license shall be verified and shall contain or set forth the following information: 1. The name, address, telephone number, principal occupation, and age of the applicant. 2. The name, address, and principal occupation of the managing agent or agents of the business. 3. The business name, business address, and business telephone number of the establishment or proposed establishment together with a description of the nature of the business and magnitude thereof. 4. Whether the business or proposed business is the undertaking of a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. If a sole proprietorship, the application shall set forth the name, address, telephone number, and principal occupation of the sole proprietor. If a partnership, the application shall set forth the names, addresses, telephone numbers, principal occupations, and respective ownership shares or each partner, whether general, limited, or silent. If a corporation, the application shall set forth the corporate name, a copy of the Articles of Incorporation, and the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and principal occupations of every officer, 2 director and shareholder (having more than five percent (5%) of the outstanding shares) and the number of shares held by each. 5. The names, addresses, telephone numbers, and principal occupations of every person, partnership, or corporation having any interest in the real or personal property utilized or to be utilized by the business or proposed business. c. Applications shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) prorated, if required, for that expired period of the first year. d. Within five (5) days of receipt of an application for erotic dance studio license, the Inspector shall transmit copies of such application to the Police Department, Fire Department, Building Department, Planning Department, City Council and City Attorney. e. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of an application for erotic dance studio license, the Inspector shall issue such license. f. An erotic dance studio license shall expire on 3une 30th of the year in which it is issued. SECTION 6: EROTIC DANCE STUIOD LICENSE - RENEWAL, REVOCATION - An erotic dance studio license may be renewed by following the application procedures set forth in Section 5. SECTION 7: DANCER'S LICENSE - No person shall dance at an erotic dance studio without a valid dancer's license issued by Inspector. SECTION 8: DANCER'S LICENSE - APPLICATION, ISSUANCE - a. Application for dancer's licenses shall be made to the Inspector. b. An application for dancer's license shall be verified and shall contain or set forth the following information: 1. The applicant's name, home addresses (current and former), home telephone number, date of birth, and aliases (past or present). 2. The business name and address where the application intends to dance. c. Application shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) prorated, if required, for that expired period of first year. d. Within five (5) days of receipt of an application for dancer's license, the Inspector shall issue such license. e. A dancer's license shall expire on June 30 of the year in which it is issued. f. A dancer's license shall entitle a dancer to dance only at the business indicated on the dancer's license application. SECTION 9: DANCER'S LICENSE - RENEWAL, REVOCATION - A dancer's license may be renewed by following the application procedure set forth in Section 8. SECTION 10: EROTIC DANCE STUDIO REGULATIONS - a. No person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other entity shall advertise, or cause to be advertised, an erotic dance studio without a valid erotic dance studio license issued pursuant to this Ordinance. b. No later than March 1 of each year, an erotic dance studio licensee shall file a verified report with the Inspector showing the licensee's gross receipts and amounts paid to dancers for the preceding calendar year. c. An erotic dance studio licensee shall maintain and retain for a period of two (2) years the names, addresses, and ages of all persons employed as dancers by the licensee. d. No erotic dance studio licensee shall employ as a dancer a person under the age of eighteen (18) years or a person not licensed pursuant to this Ordinance. e. No person under the age of eighteen (18) years shall be admitted to an erotic dance studio. f. An erotic dance studio shall be closed between 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. g. No erotic dance studio licensee shall serve, sell, distribute, or suffer the consumption or possession of any intoxicating liquor or controlled substance upon the premises of the licensee. 4 h. An erotic dance studio licensee shall conspicuously display all licenses required by this Ordinance. i. All dancing shall occur on a platform intended for that purpose which is raised at least two feet (2') from the level of the floor. j. No dancing shall occur closer than ten feet (10') to any patron. k. No dancer shall fondle or caress any patron and no patron shall fondle or caress any dancer. 1. No patron shall directly pay or give any gratuity to any dancer. m. No dancer shall solicit any pay or gratuity from any patron. SECTION 11: INSPECTIONS - All books and records required to be kept pursuant to this Ordinance shall be open to inspection by the City Attorney or agents thereof, during the hours when the erotic dance studio is open for business. The purpose of such inspection shall be to determine if the books and records meet the requirements of this Ordinance. SECTION 12: NUISANCE DECLARED - Any activity, act, or conduct contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance and such activity, act, or conduct may be enjoined by an action brought by the City Attorney or other interested person. SECTION 13: PENALTY - Any person, firm, or corporation violating any provision of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and each such person, firm, or corporation shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during which any violation is committed, continued, or permitted and upon conviction of any such violation such person, firm, or corporation shall be punished by a fine of not more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) or by imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, no person shall be deemed guilty of any violation of this Ordinance if acting in an investigative capacity pursuant to the request or order of the Police Department, City Attorney, Inspector or duly appointed agent thereof. SECTION 14: SEVERABILITY - If any portion of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder or application to other persons or circumstance shall not be affected. APPROVED by the City Council on the first reading this day of ~~ , 1985. · PASSED by the City Council of the City of Bremerton, signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this \9 day of ~ /7 , 1985. .-'?.~ ..q. YI ~O~ZE D~KZ~S, ~ayor ATTEST: KATHLEEN L. McCLUSKEY, C~erk