07/28/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 2 Chairman Thomas asked the City Attorney about the terminology of a private club that has a set number of members who own and run the club, versus a club that is open to the public and you pay as you enter the club. City Attorney Foster said he did not think private clubs will make any difference in relation to sexually oriented business, but will make a lot of difference in the definition. City Attorney Foster said this is not going to be regulated like alcohol would be in that regard. He said in the statutes we are talking about sexually oriented businesses and the authority to regulate the same. Mr. Foster said that there is a particular section on businesses licensed under the Alcoholic Beverage Code, or having coin operated machines, and we cannot be prejudiced in our statutes toward businesses licensed by this Commission. City Attorney Foster called the Committee's attention to the summary in Section One of the study, and read some of the findings. Chairman Thomas said what it comes down to is that there are secondary effects that, if left unchecked, would affect growth and development in the City of Paris. City Attorney Foster said in looking through the study, the City of Austin summarizes the results of all the other cities. City Attorney Foster said that the Legislature has stated that we can adopt these studies as they pertain to our city. City Attorney Foster advised the Committee that it was his suggestion to adopt the studies, and when an ordinance is studied, that we the report those findings. After discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Stephens, seconded by Reverend Miller to adopt the findings in the studies. The motion carried 5 ayes, 0 nays. City Attorney Foster brought to the attention of the Committee that the State Legislature has findings within the statutes, but it is not necessary for the Committee to adopt them since they are statutory findings. The Legislature in Chapter 243, Section .001 of the Local Business Code gives municipalities and counties the authority to regulate sexually oriented businesses. City Attorney Foster read the proposed ordinance that he had prepared, and discussion was had during the reading of the ordinance. Chairman Thomas invited the public to speak regarding the sexually oriented businesses. Jennifer Martin, 106 N. E. 12th Street, appeared and stated that the Committee says you can not regulate businesses that have 25 %, so why can't you require these businesses to register like the people that actually have sexually oriented businesses. Ms. Martin presented the Committee with photographs of Hastings