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CITY of RAPID CITY Agenda Item Summary |
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Meeting Date: 4/30/2014 |
Commission, Board or Committee: |
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Staff Contact: Joel P. Landeen, City Attorney or Allison Marsland, Assistant City Attorney |
PW Committee or L&F Committee: Legal & Finance |
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Petitioner: N/A |
City Council 1st Reading: |
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Location: N/A |
City Council 2nd Reading: |
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Agenda Title: |
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Introduction and First Reading of Ordinance No. 5993 to Require Certain Adult Oriented Businesses to Provide an Unobstructed View in Patron Permitted Areas, to Define Knowledge as it Pertains to Licensees, and to Delineate the Hearing Process for Adverse Action Against Licensees in the City of Rapid City by Amending Chapter 5.70 of the Rapid City Municipal Code. |
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Summary: |
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The City’s adult business ordinance was adopted in 2003. It has not been significantly updated since that time. The recent enforcement action against Shotgun Willy’s highlighted several areas that the ordinance could be improved. My office also reviewed the ordinance in order to clean up and clarify its provisions where appropriate. The highlights of the substantive changes are as follows: 1) the requirement that all areas where patrons are allowed be visible was extended to adult cabarets; 2) a specific appeals process was added to the ordinance for license revocation and suspension actions; and 3) a definition of what constitutes knowledge for purposes of a license revocation was added to the ordinance. While several Council members expressed concern about the definition of “specified sexual activities” and the discretion that police have in deciding what constitutes a “specified sexual activity” my office did not recommend any changes to the definition. The decision to not alter the definition was based on several factors. This definition is not unique to Rapid City and the courts have consistently held that this definition is not unconstitutionally vague or overbroad. In fact, in the criminal prosecution of the dancer who was shown in the video presented to the Council the judge found that the dancer was in violation of the ordinance and rejected the legal arguments made to the City Council. I think it is also important to note that police officers are required to exercise discretion on whether or not to issue citations on a daily basis. Many ordinances and statutes describe general behavior that is prohibited and require the officer to make a judgment call if a person’s behavior violates the law or not. It would be virtually impossible to specify all the conduct that would be prohibited under an ordinance such as this or to remove any discretion from the police. It would also reduce flexibility and I would strongly recommend against it. Ultimately, this is your ordinance and if you cannot support this definition it should be altered or the provision prohibiting simulated sex should be removed. |
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Funding Source & Fiscal Impact (if applicable): |
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N/A |
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Recommendation: |
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Action: Approve the ordinance amendments Choose an item. Notes: See above |
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Options: |
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Approve the ordinance amendments in whole or in part or reject the recommended changes. The Council can also give staff further direction for other changes you would like to see. |
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Attachments & Links: |
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