§ 10-301. Purpose and findings.

(a)

The purpose of this article is to regulate certain types of businesses, including, but not limited to, adult entertainment establishments, to the end that the many types of criminal activities frequently engendered by such businesses will be curtailed. However it is recognized that such regulation cannot de facto approach prohibition. Otherwise, a protected form of expression would vanish. As to adult entertainment establishments, this article represents a balancing of competing interests; reduced criminal activity and protection of the neighbors through the regulation of adult entertainment establishments versus the protected rights of adult entertainment establishments and patrons.

(b)

Findings. Based on the experience of other urban counties and municipalities, including, but not limited to, Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia; DeKalb County, Georgia; Richmond County, Georgia; Floyd County, Georgia; Amarillo, Texas; Austin, Texas; Garden Grove, California; Houston, Texas; Renton, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Paul, Minnesota; Tucson, Arizona; Augusta, Georgia; LaGrange, Georgia; Dalton and Whitfield County, Georgia; Carrollton, Georgia; Smyrna, Georgia; Rome, Georgia; and Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach, Florida, which experiences, we believe are relevant to the problems faced by the City of Cartersville, Georgia, the mayor and city council takes note of the notorious and self-evident conditions attendant to the commercial exploitation of human sexuality, which do not vary greatly among generally comparable communities within our country. Moreover, it is the findings of the mayor and city council that public nudity (either partial or total) under certain circumstances, particularly circumstances related to the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, begets criminal behavior and tends to create undesirable community conditions. Among the acts of criminal behavior identified with nudity and alcohol are disorderly conduct, prostitution and drug trafficking and use. Among the undesirable community conditions identified with nudity and alcohol are depression of property values in the surrounding neighborhood, increased expenditure for and allocation of law enforcement personnel to preserve law and order, increased burden on the judicial system as a consequence of the criminal behavior hereinabove described, and acceleration of community blight by the concentration of such establishments in particular areas. Therefore, the limitation of nude conduct in establishments licensed in the city limits and prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in said establishment is in the public welfare and it is a matter of governmental interest and concern to prevent the occurrence of criminal behavior and undesirable community conditions normally associated with establishments which serve alcohol and also allow and/or encourage nudity. Based on these findings, this article is adopted to regulate certain types of businesses and to establish where such activity may or may not be conducted.

(Ord. No. 52-95, § I, 12-21-95)