2nd FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM
APRIL 23, 2008
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING WITH PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT
PRESENT Chair Richard F. Kehoe, Vice Chair William P. Horan, Jr., Majority Leader Marcia A. Leclerc, Minority Leader Donald H. Pitkin, Councillors Marc I. Weinberg, Jason Rojas, Patricia Harmon and Eric A. Thompson
ALSO
PRESENT Richard Gentile, Assistant Corporation Counsel
Jeanne Webb, Director of Development
Michael Dayton, Town Planner
Phil Michalowski, Consultant
Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission:
Anthony Kayser, Elaine Carey, Thomas Fitzgerald
John Grottole, John Ryan, Paul Roczynski
Peter Bonzani, Mary Whaples
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Kehoe called the meeting to order at 6:39 p.m.
The Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission met to receive a report of the recommendations of Harrall-Michalowski Associates, Inc. with respect to changes to the Town’s zoning regulations and code of ordinances. Also discussed were the following issues:
· Secondary effects associated with sexually oriented businesses (review of case law, national studies concerning secondary effects and local incidents)
· The extent to which zoning regulations may regulate sexually oriented businesses while protecting First Amendment rights
· The extent to which municipal ordinances may regulate sexually oriented businesses through licensing or other means while protecting First Amendment rights
· Recommended changes to the Town’s Zoning Regulations
· Possible ways the Town Council might regulate sexually oriented businesses through licensing or other means
Phil Michalowski, Consultant, and Michael Dayton, Town Planner, provided the Town Council with a packet of studies regarding the secondary impact of adult entertainment on the community conducted by numerous cities including Garden Grove, California; St. Paul Minnesota; Amarillo, Texas; Beaumont, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas; Newport News, Virginia; Los Angeles, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; Phoenix, Arizona; and Whittier, California. The packet also included a recent 2008 study on the effects of adult entertainment on rural communities and several other compilations on the subject. The Town Council also reviewed several court decisions on the scope of town regulation of adult entertainment and model ordinances form Seattle, Washington, Freetown, Massachusetts and West Burlington,
Iowa.
The Town Council also received police logs concerning two existing adult entertainment venues in East Hartford.
Mr. Michalowski reviewed a proposed plan for zoning regulations involving adult entertainment that the Planning and Zoning Commission may consider in the next few weeks.
The Chair noted that the Town Council had referred the matter of regulating adult entertainment businesses to the Ordinance Committee. The Committee will begin to deliberate various options at its next meeting now that the Committee and the entire Council have reviewed background information on the subject.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION By Don Pitkin
seconded by Bill Horan
to adjourn (7:26 p.m.)
Motion carried 9/0.
Attest____________________________
Richard F. Kehoe
Town Council Chair
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