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PRESENTATION: Mr. Hartley e~plained that tonight's hearing at the Ramsey Elementary School is a continuance of a City Council im¢?~ting that was called to order earlier this evening at Rarnsey City Hall. The Planning and Zoning Commission is also present to participate in this hearing. City AttorneylGoodrich stated that the purpose of tonight's hearing is to review zoning related to adult uses. ~dult uses are a protected use by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitutioq. ~Under the Constitution, pornography is permitted and obscenity is not permitted. Cities can effect dissemination of those items if they adopt ordinances that are content neutral. The Supreme' Co.ul~t has said that if there are secondary impacts, cities can regulate the location of adult uses through Zoning. Along with that, the City has to prove that it has provided alternative avenues withiti our: city for this type of protected speech per the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Based on that~th¢ City of Ramsey hired a planner to prepare a report regarding secondary impacts of adult uses ~d a xecommendation as to how best Ramsey can regulate them within the law. David Licht, Northwest Associated Consultants - stated that he has been commissioned by the City of Ramsey tO analyze adult activities and their regulations. The study which his firm has undertaken is It fairly extensive document and those persons wishing to may obtain a copy at City Hall. The study was organized into three parts. The first is an analysis of legal parameters under which a citylcSn regulate adult uses. The second part is an evaluation of adult uses themselves and their secondar~ impacts and the third section is a draft of zoning regulations. The study focuses on two levels of ibformaflon. The fkst was information gained from other cities in Minnesota and the nation with rSpect to important Supreme Courts decisions. The second level of concern was Ramsey. As .c~.' nsultants, they took into account testimony presented at the City of Ramsey public hearing in Ma3,, 1990 and researched police records and from those sources they identified six critical items ~vhich serve to guide and direct the proposed zoning ordinance. Adult uses are protected by the First Amendment. A community must provide a reasonable opportunity for those adult uses tO ~xist: within the city. Adult uses cannot be zoned out of a city. Adult uses may produce sec0rglary impacts which are negative to the community and secondary impacts can be controlled. A Community has a right to restrict proximity of adult uses to sensitive areas and areas prone to minor involvement. Cities also have the tight to regulate by separation of adult uses. Stuc[ies indi~a!e that if you congregate adult uses, the number of secondary impacts intensify. Adult uses ha~e been defined as two types. One is principal use and that is a business operation which is exclusively directed to adult use activities. A second type is accessory use which is a situation wher~ an ~dult activity is not the primary function of the store or operation being looked at. It is also important to point out to the City Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the public that~presently the courts apparently have not taken great concern if cities do not regulate accessory adult uses. In this case, Northwest Associated Consultants believes that in order to avoid discrim~, nation concerns, Ramsey should also address accessory adult uses. The first proposed revision ;to Ramsey's zoning ordinance where adult uses will be addressed is a new section entitle~ General Provisions. It regulates any and all adult uses regardless of the zoning district in whilch they may later be allowed. This section prohibits obscene activities from occurring in the city. It prohibits adult uses of any type to be located in any building, residential in character. It ~lso states that adult uses must be located 750 feet from seven types of activities within the community. Those activities are: residentially zoned property, licensed daycare facilities, public or :private educational facilities - elementary through high school, public libraries, r~ublic parks, alt. other adult use and on-sale liquor operations. Adult uses would also be restricted :~om locating ~ear churches because churches in Ramsey are in the residential zones. Another concern with si~condary impacts of adult uses is signing. The proposed ordinance states that sign messages mas! be genetic and contain no advertising on the sign face itself. This is an attempt to keep the sign~content neutral. With respect to adult use accessory, the proposed ordinance indicates that ~y time a convenience store or rental operation has an adult use, it is not allowed to advertise that in terms of its signing. The next major question is what district should adult use Public Hearing/October 9, 1990 Page 7 of 14 M33