5.45.015 Findings.

The uses and activities defined and regulated in this chapter are detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Clark County and to the reasonable and orderly growth and development of Clark County and must be reasonably regulated for the following reasons:

(1)    Numerous communities have experienced negative secondary impacts from adult entertainment land uses;

(2)    Clark County may rely on the experience of other communities in assessing the present and future need for the regulation of adult entertainment land uses and the type of regulation which is appropriate for such uses;

(3)    Clark County’s concern for the adverse secondary impacts of adult entertainment uses is exacerbated by its proximity to, and interrelationship with, adult entertainment uses in Portland, Oregon, where, by virtue of state decisional law, reasonable regulations of such uses have been prohibited and prevented;

(4)    The Comprehensive Plan of Clark County strongly supports a policy that adjacent land uses be compatible;

(5)    Adult entertainment land uses are incompatible with certain sensitive land uses such as residences, churches, parks, day care facilities and schools;

(6)    Adjacency of residential uses to adult entertainment land uses reduces the desirability and value of residential property;

(7)    Adult entertainment land uses are perceived to negatively impact the character of established neighborhoods;

(8)    Experience elsewhere has shown that concentration of adult entertainment land uses degrades the quality of the areas in which they are concentrated and causes a decline in desirability and value of surrounding properties;

(9)    Even in dispersal models, adult entertainment land uses may be expected to have adverse secondary impacts on adjacent commercial and business uses unless subject to reasonable regulation relating to exterior decor and signage;

(10)    Increased levels of criminal activity occur in and around adult entertainment land uses which implicate health and safety resources of Clark County;

(11)    On-premises criminal activity may be expected to occur in adult entertainment uses unless such premises are subject to reasonable regulations relating to licensure, interior design and on-premises conduct of licensees and patrons;

(12)    Utilization of one thousand (1,000) feet as the requisite spacing between each adult entertainment land use and other adult entertainment land uses and between adult entertainment land uses and churches, parks, day care facilities and schools, coupled with a five hundred (500) foot spacing requirement between adult entertainment land uses and existing residential zones, will provide adequate separation while providing adequate locations for prospective adult entertainment land uses;

(13)    Implementation of a modified dispersal approach to the regulation of adult entertainment uses, together with reasonable regulation of licensure of such uses, is the least restrictive alternative means available to accomplish the substantial governmental interest in protecting and preserving the quality of the county’s neighborhoods while still preserving adequate site opportunities for adult entertainment enterprises and those who wish to patronize such land uses; and

(14)    The public welfare is served by screening adult materials from view by minors. (Sec. 1 of Ord. 1990-08-03)