5.58.120 - Adult business operational and performance standards.
Part of the Code of Ordinances of Commerce, CA.
The text
(1)
The following operational and performance standards shall apply to all adult business issued a permit, including temporary permits, pursuant to this chapter.
(A)
Maximum Occupancy. Maximum occupancy load, fire exits, aisles and fire equipment for all adult businesses shall be regulated, designed and provided in accordance with the fire department, building and safety regulations and standards adopted by the city of Commerce.
(B)
Exterior Illumination. All off-street parking areas and exterior premises entries of the adult business shall be illuminated from dusk to closing hours with a lighting system which provides an average maintained horizontal illumination of one footcandle of light on the parking surface and/or walkways. The lighting shall be shown on the required sketch or diagram of the premises submitted with the application for a permit.
(C)
Interior Illumination. All interior areas of the adult business shall be illuminated at a minimum of the following footcandles, minimally maintained and evenly distributed evenly at ground level:
Use Footcandles
Bookstores and other retail establishments 20
Theatres and cabarets 5 (except during performances, at which times lighting shall be at least 1.25 footcandles)
Adult massage and tanning salons 10
Arcades 10
Motels/hotels 20 (in public areas)
Modeling studios 20
(D)
Indoor Areas. The interior of the premises shall be configured in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view of every area of the premises to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose, excluding restrooms, from the front entrance of the adult business.
(E)
Exterior Public View. No adult 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 right-of-way or from any location outside the building or area of such establishment.
(i)
This provision shall apply to any display, decoration, sign, show window or other opening. All exterior windows shall be covered with opaque covering at all times.
(ii)
No exterior door or window on the premises shall be propped or kept open at any time while the business is open.
(F)
Restroom Facilities. The adult business shall provide and maintain separate restroom facilities for male patrons and employees, and female patrons and employees. Male patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the restroom(s) for females, and female patrons and employees shall be prohibited from using the restroom(s) for males or male patrons, except to carry out duties of repair, maintenance and cleaning of the restroom facilities.
(i)
The restrooms shall be free from any materials depicting specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
(ii)
Restrooms shall not contain television monitors or other motion picture or video projection, recording or reproduction equipment.
(iii)
The foregoing provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an adult business, which does not or is not required to provide restroom facilities to its patrons or the general public.
(G)
Noise. The premises within which the adult business is located shall provide sufficient sound-absorbing insulation so that noise generated inside the adult business shall not be audible anywhere on any adjacent property or the public right-of-way or within any other building or other separate unit within the same building.
(H)
Hours of Operation. Except for those adult businesses regulated by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control because they serve alcohol, an adult business shall be open for business only between the hours of eight a.m. and midnight on any particular day.
(I)
Parking. All adult businesses shall comply with the parking requirements contained in the Commerce zoning code.
(J)
Signage. All adult businesses shall comply with the requirements governing signage contained in the Commerce zoning code.
(K)
Age Requirement. No person under the age of eighteen years shall be permitted in or on the premises of an adult business at any time. The building entrance(s) of an adult business shall be clearly and legibly posted with a sign indicating that persons under eighteen years of age are prohibited from entering the premises. The sign shall be constructed and posted to the satisfaction of the community development director or his/her designee.
(L)
Security. Adult businesses shall employ licensed security guards in order to maintain the public peace and safety, based upon the following standards:
(i)
Any adult business shall maintain at least one security guard on the premises during operating hours.
(ii)
The sheriff's department shall have the discretion to impose any other security measures, which it deems to be necessary in preserving the public safety.
(iii)
Security guards 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.
(iv)
No security guard required pursuant to this subsection shall act as a door person, ticket seller, ticket taker, admittance person, manager, or sole occupant of the manager's station while acting as a security guard.
(v)
Security cameras shall be maintained in each area of the interior and exterior premises of the adult business as determined by the sheriff's department.
(2)
In addition to the aforementioned operational standards set forth in this section, the following additional operational standards shall apply:
(A)
Adult Arcades, Adult Motion Picture Theater, Adult Bookstore, Adult Novelty Store and Adult Video Store.
(i)
The interior of the premises shall be configured in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view of every area of the premises to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose, excluding restrooms, from the front entrance of the adult business.
(ii)
The viewing rooms or booths shall remain unobstructed by any doors, walls, curtains, merchandise, display racks, or other materials at all times. No patron is permitted access to any area of the premises which has been designated as an area in which patrons are not permitted.
(iii)
The walls or partitions between viewing rooms or booths shall be maintained in good repair at all times, with no holes or transparent material between any two such rooms or booths such as would allow viewing from one room or booth into another, or as to allow physical contact of any kind between the occupants of any two such rooms or booths.
(iv)
No viewing rooms or booths may be occupied by more than one person at.any one time.
(v)
The floors, seats, walls and other interior portions of all viewing rooms or booths shall be maintained clean and free from waste and bodily secretions.
(vi)
At least one employee shall be on duty and situated in the area designated for the manager at all times that any patron is present inside the premises.
(vii)
Security cameras shall be maintained in each area of the interior premises of the adult arcade where the viewing rooms are located.
(viii)
Customers, patrons, or visitors shall not be allowed to stand idly by or loiter in the vicinity of any such viewing rooms, booths or restroom areas, or from remaining in the common area of such business, unless he/she is actively engaged in shopping for or viewing the products available on display for purchaser viewing.
(ix)
Signs prohibiting loitering shall be posted in prominent places in and near the viewing rooms or booths.
(B)
Adult Theaters and Cabarets-Adult Live Entertainment. The following additional requirements shall pertain to adult businesses providing live entertainment such as adult theaters and cabarets, depicting specified anatomical areas or involving specified sexual activities, except for businesses regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission:
(i)
No person shall perform live entertainment for patrons of an adult business, except upon a stage at least eighteen inches above the level of the floor which is separated by a distance of at least ten feet from the nearest area occupied by patrons. No patron shall be permitted within ten feet of the stage while the stage is occupied by an adult business performer.
(ii)
Fixed rail(s) at least thirty inches in height shall be maintained establishing the separations between performers and patrons required by this subsection.
(iii)
The adult business shall provide separate dressing room facilities for performers, which are exclusively dedicated to the performers' use. No performer shall be permitted to use the restrooms used by patrons of the adult business as a dressing room.
(iv)
The adult business shall provide access for performers between the stage and the dressing rooms, which is completely separate from the access used by patrons of the adult business. If such separate access is not physically feasible, the adult business shall provide a minimum three foot wide walk aisle for performers between the dressing room area and the stage, with a railing, fence or other barrier separating the patrons and the performers capable of (and which actually results in) preventing any physical contact between patrons and performers.
(v)
The adult business shall provide an entrance/exit for performers which is separate from the entrance/exit used by patrons of the adult business.
(vi)
No performer, either before, during or after performances, shall have physical contact with any patron and no patron shall have physical contact with any performer either before, during or after performances by such performer. This prohibition includes "couch," "lap," or "straddle" dances with a patron. This subsection shall only apply to physical contact in or on the premises of the adult business.
(vii)
No patron shall directly pay or give any gratuity to any performer, and no performer shall solicit or receive any pay or gratuity from any patron of the adult business.
(viii)
There shall be signs posted in the interior of the premises where live entertainment takes place advising patrons that it is unlawful to directly pay or give any gratuity to any performer.
(ix)
No owner or other person with managerial control over an adult business shall permit any person on the premises of the adult 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 in a discernibly turgid state. This provision may not be complied with applying an opaque covering simulating the appearance of the specified anatomical part required to be covered.
(C)
Outcall Adult Businesses.
(i)
An outcall adult business shall maintain a dispatch log, which provides the following information:
a.
The name and business address of the outcall adult business;
b.
The name and address of the adult business performer dispatched and the date dispatched;
c.
The date the adult business performer will provide services;
d.
The time the adult business performer will provide the services;
e.
The complete address where the adult business performer shall provide the services;
f.
The duration of the services to be provided by the adult business performer;
g.
The name and address of the contact person requesting the services of the adult business performer;
h.
The type of services to be performed by the adult business performer;
i.
The amount charged for the services of the adult business performer;
j.
The names and addresses of any and all bodyguards, employees, independent contractors or any other person accompanying the adult business performer to the location dispatched where services will be rendered.
k.
The dispatch log shall be current and made available for inspection by the city administrator, or his/her designee, including the sheriff's department.
(ii)
An adult business performer employed as an employee, and an independent contractor of an outcall adult business shall maintain a performer's log, which provides the following information:
a.
The name and business address of the outcall adult business;
b.
The name and address of the adult business performer dispatched by the outcall adult business;
c.
The date and time the adult business performer was dispatched;
d.
The date the adult business performer will provide services;
e.
The time the adult business performer will provide the services;
f.
The complete address where the adult business performer shall provide the services;
g.
The duration of the services to be provided by the adult business performer;
h.
The name and address of the contact person requesting the services of the adult business performer;
i.
The type of services to be provided by the adult business performer;
j.
The amount charged for the services of the adult business performer;
k.
The names and addresses of any and all bodyguards, employees, independent contractors or any other person accompanying the adult business performer to the location dispatched where services will be rendered.
l.
The performer's log shall be current and made available for inspection by the city administrator, or his/her designee, including the sheriff's department.
(Ord. 539 §2(part), 1999).