3.9 Adult Entertainment
Amended May 18, 1998 Article 32
A. Authority
This bylaw is enacted pursuant to M. G. L. Chapter 40A and pursuant to the Town of West Boylston's authority under the Home Rule Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to serve the compelling town interests of limiting the location of certain adult entertainment uses, as defined and designated herein, in response to studies demonstrating their deleterious effects.
B. Purpose
It is the purpose of this Adult Entertainment Bylaw to address and mitigate the secondary effects of the adult entertainment establishments and sexually oriented businesses that are referenced and defined herein. Secondary effects have been shown to include increased crimes, adverse impacts on the property values of residential and commercial properties and adverse impacts on the quality of life in the town.
All of said secondary impacts are adverse to the health, safety and general welfare of the Town of West Boylston and its inhabitants.
The provisions of this bylaw have neither the purpose nor the intent of imposing a limitation on the content of any communicative matter or materials, including sexually oriented matter or materials. Similarly, it is not the purpose nor the intent of this bylaw to restrict or deny access by adults to adult entertainment establishments or to sexually oriented matter or materials that are protected by the Constitutions of the United States or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, nor to restrict or deny rights that distributors or exhibitors of such matter or materials may have to sell, rent, distribute or exhibit such matter or materials. Neither is the purpose or intent of this bylaw to legalize the sale, rental distribution or exhibition of obscene or other illegal matter or
materials.
C. Definitions
Adult entertainment uses: shall include the following uses:
1) adult bookstores, as defined by M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 9A;
2) adult motion picture theaters, as defined by M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 9A;
3) adult paraphernalia store, as defined by M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 9A;
4) adult video store, as defined by M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 9A;
5) establishment which displays live nudity for its patrons, as defined by M.G.L. Chapter 40A, Section 9A.
D. Adult Entertainment uses by Special Permit; Criteria, Conditions
Adult entertainment uses shall be prohibited in all zoning districts except as otherwise permitted in this bylaw and may be permitted only upon the granting of a special permit by the Board of Appeals. Such a special permit shall not be granted unless each of the following standards has been met.
1) The application for a special permit for an adult use shall provide the name and address of the legal owner of the establishment, the legal owner of the property and the manager of the proposed establishment.
2) No adult use special permit shall be issued to any person convicted of violating the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 119, Section 63, or M.G.L. Chapter 272, Section 28.
3) Adult uses shall not be located within:
a) 50 feet from the nearest residential zoning district: or
b) 500 feet from the nearest church, school, park, playground, play field or youth center. The distances specified above shall be measured by a straight line from the nearest property line of the premises on which the proposed adult entertainment use is to be located to the nearest boundary line of a residential zoning district or to the nearest property line of any of the other designated uses set forth above.
4) All building openings, entries and windows shall be screened in such a manner as to prevent visual access to the interior of the establishment by the public.
5) No adult use shall be allowed to display for advertisement or other purpose any signs, placards or other like materials to the general public on the exterior of the building or on the interior where the same may be seen through glass or other like transparent materials any sexually explicit figures or words as defined in M.G.L. Chapter 272, Section 31.
6) No adult use shall be allowed to disseminate or offer to disseminate adult matter or paraphernalia to minors or suffer minors to view displays or linger on the premises.
7) The proposed adult entertainment use shall comply with the off-street parking requirements set forth in this bylaw.
8) No adult entertainment use shall be established prior to submission and approval of a plan by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The plan shall depict all existing and proposed buildings, parking spaces, driveways, service areas and other open uses. The plan shall show the distances between the proposed adult entertainment use and the boundary of the nearest residential zoning district and the property line of each of the uses set forth in subsection D 3 above.
9) The Zoning Board of Appeals may retain professional assistance to review and give recommendations in assessing the application, at the expense of the applicant, pursuant to the board's rules and regulations for consultant fees.
10) The hours of operation shall be between 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m.
E. Adult Entertainment District
Adult entertainment uses shall be allowed by special permit within the existing Industrial Zone, Adult entertainment uses shall be prohibited at any other location in the town. Adult entertainment uses proposed as accessory uses must comply with Section D above.
F. Conditions
The special permit granting authority may impose reasonable conditions, safeguards and limitations on time or use of any special permit granted and shall require that any such special permit granted shall be personal to the applicant, shall not run with the land, and shall expire upon expiration of the applicant's lease or upon sale of the subject property.
G. Expiration
A special permit to conduct an adult entertainment use shall expire after a period of two calendar years from its date of issuance and shall be renewable for successive two year periods thereafter, provided that a written request for such renewal is made to the special permit granting authority prior to said expiration and that no objection to said renewal is made and sustained by the special permit granting authority based upon the public safety factors applied at the time that the original permit was granted.
H. Severability
The provisions of this section are severable and, in the event that any provision of this section is determined to be invalid for any reason, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
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