§ 5-9.301. Adult Entertainment Business Development and Performance Standards.

(a)

Maximum occupancy load, fire exits, aisles and fire equipment shall be regulated, designed and provided in accordance with the Fire Department and building regulations and standards adopted by the City of Modesto.

(b)

No adult entertainment business shall be operated in any manner that permits the observation of any material or activities depicting, describing or relating to "specified sexual activities" or "specified anatomical areas" from any public way or from any location outside the building or area of such establishment. This provision shall apply to any display, decoration, sign, show window or other opening. No exterior door or window on the premises shall be propped or kept open at any time while the business is open, and any exterior windows shall be covered with opaque covering at all times.

(c)

All off-street parking area and premises entries of the sexually oriented business shall be illuminated from dusk to closing hours of operation with a lighting system which provides an average maintained horizontal illumination of one (1) foot-candle of light on the parking surface and/or walkways. The required lighting level is established in order to provide sufficient illumination of the parking areas and walkways serving the sexually oriented business for the personal safety of patrons and employees and to reduce the incidence of vandalism and criminal conduct. The lighting shall be shown on the required sketch or diagram of the premises.

(d)

The premises within which the adult entertainment business is located shall provide sufficient sound-absorbing insulation so that noise generated inside said premises shall not be audible anywhere on any adjacent property or public right-of-way or within any other building or other separate unit within the same building.

(e)

Except for those businesses also regulated by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, an adult entertainment business shall be open for business only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and midnight on any particular day.

(f)

Any adult entertainment business which is also a "picture arcade" pursuant to Section 4-1.1302 of this Code shall comply with Sections 4-1.1303 and 4-1.1304.

(g)

The building entrance to an adult entertainment business shall be clearly and legibly posted with a notice indicating that persons under eighteen (18) years of age are precluded from entering the premises. Said notice shall be constructed and posted to the satisfaction of the Community Development Director or designee. No person under the age of eighteen (18) years shall be permitted within the premises at any time.

(h)

All indoor areas of the adult entertainment business within which patrons are permitted; except rest rooms, shall be open to view by the management at all times.

(i)

The adult entertainment business shall provide and maintain separate rest room facilities for male patrons and employees, and female patrons and employees. Male patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the rest room(s) for females, and female patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the rest room(s) for males, except to carry out duties of repair, maintenance and cleaning of the rest room facilities. The rest rooms shall be free from any adult material. Rest rooms shall not contain television monitors or other motion picture or video projection, recording or reproduction equipment. The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to an adult entertainment business which deals exclusively with sale or rental of adult material which is not used or consumed on the premises, such as an adult bookstore or adult video store, and which does not provide reset room facilities to its patrons or the general public.

(j)

The following additional requirements shall pertain to adult entertainment businesses providing live entertainment depicting specified anatomical areas or involving specified sexual activities:

(1)

No person shall perform live entertainment for patrons of an adult entertainment business except upon a stage at least eighteen (18) inches above the level of the floor which is separated by a distance of at least ten (10) feet from the nearest area occupied by patrons, and no patron shall be permitted within ten (10) feet of the stage while the stage is occupied by an entertainer. "Entertainer" shall mean any person who is an employee or independent contractor of the adult entertainment business, or any person who, with or without any compensation or other form of consideration, performs live entertainment for patrons of an adult entertainment business.

(2)

The adult entertainment business shall provide separate dressing room facilities for entertainers which are exclusively dedicated to the entertainers' use.

(3)

The adult entertainment business shall provide an entrance/exit for entertainers which is separate from the entrance/exit used by patrons.

(4)

The adult entertainment business shall provide access for entertainers between the stage and the dressing rooms which is completely separated from the patrons. If such separate access is not physically feasible, the adult business shall provide a minimum three (3) foot wide walk aisle for entertainers between the dressing room area and the stage, with a railing, fence or other barrier separating the patrons and the entertainers capable of (and which actually results in) preventing any physical contact between patrons and entertainers.

(5)

No person who is required to obtain a permit pursuant to Section 5-9.206, either before, during or after performances, shall have physical contact with any patron and no patron shall have physical contact with any entertainer either before, during or after performances by such entertainer. This subsection shall only apply to physical contact on the premises of the adult entertainment business.

(6)

Fixed rail(s) at least thirty (30) inches in height shall be maintained establishing the separations between entertainers and patrons required by this subsection.

(7)

No patron shall directly pay or give any gratuity to any entertainer and no entertainer shall solicit any pay or gratuity from any patron.

(8)

No owner or other person with managerial control over an adult entertainment business (as that term is defined herein) shall permit any person on the premises of the adult-oriented business to engage in a live showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a fully opaque coverage, and/or the female breast with less than a fully opaque coverage over any part of the nipple or areola and/or covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state. This provision may not be complied with by applying an opaque covering simulating the appearance of the specified anatomical part required to be covered.

(k)

Adult entertainment businesses shall employ security guards in order to maintain the public peace and safety, based upon the following standards:

(1)

Adult entertainment businesses featuring live entertainment shall provide at least one (1) security guard at all times while the business is open. If the occupancy limit of the premises is greater than thirty-five (35) persons, an additional security guard shall be on duty.

(2)

Security guards for other adult entertainment businesses may be required if it is determined by the Police Chief that their presence is necessary in order to prevent any of the conduct listed in Section 5-9.208(b)(3) from occurring on the premises.

(3)

Security guard(s) shall be charged with preventing violations of law and enforcing compliance by patrons of the requirements of these regulations. Security guards shall be uniformed in such a manner so as to be readily identifiable as a security guard by the public and shall be duly licensed as a security guard as required by applicable provisions of State law. No security guard required pursuant to this subsection shall act as a door person, ticket seller, ticket taker, admittance person, or sole occupant of the manager's station while acting as a security guard.

The foregoing applicable requirements of this section shall be deemed conditions of adult entertainment business regulatory permit approvals, and failure to comply with every such requirement shall be grounds for revocation of the permit issued pursuant to these regulations.

(Added by Ord. 2953-C.S., § 3, amended by Ord. 3000-C.S., § 3, and Ord. 3028-C.S., § 1, effective 2-27-97)