CHAPTER 821 - SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES
The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to the area of St. Louis County outside of incorporated cities, towns and villages.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.020 - Definitions.
In this Chapter,
(a) Director means the Director of the Department of Revenue or the Director's designated employee.
(b) Sexually oriented business means any business which offers its patrons goods of which a substantial portion are sexually oriented materials. Any business where more than ten (10) percent of display space is used for sexually oriented materials shall be presumed to be an adult business.
(c) Sexually oriented material means any device or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer, including, but not limited to any book, magazine, newspaper or other printed or written matter, picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture film, video, pictorial representation, statue, figure, or other three-dimensional object, recording, transcription or anything which is or may be used as a means of communication that depicts, describes, or portrays human sexual intercourse, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, masturbation, urinary and defecatory functions, sadism, masochism, sadomasochistic abuse, exhibition of the genitals or any touching of the genitals, pubic areas, or buttocks of the human male or female, whether alone, or between members of the same or opposite sex, or between humans and animals, in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.030 - Certain Acts Prohibited.
It shall be unlawful for any owner or operator of a sexually oriented business to:
(1) Purvey or display any obscene material in violation of Chapter 706 SLCRO 1974 as amended;
(2) Purvey or display child pornography as that term is defined in Section 573.010 R.S.Mo. (1994 as amended);
(3) Purvey or display to a person under the age of 18 any sexually oriented material;
(4) Display or promote sexually oriented material so that it is visible from outside the premises;
(5) Employ at the sexually oriented business any person who:
(i) Has been convicted of violating the provisions of Chapters 706 or 713 SLCRO 1974, as amended, Chapters 566, 567, 568, or 573 R.S.Mo. (1994 as amended), or has been convicted of any offense which if committed in St. Louis County or the State of Missouri would constitute such offenses;
(ii) Is under the age of eighteen (18).
(6) Make a false statement on the application for a license.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.040 - Administration.
The Director is authorized to inspect sexually oriented businesses to determine compliance with this Chapter and to issue licenses in accordance with this Chapter.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.050 - License Required.
1. It shall be unlawful for any person to own or operate a sexually oriented business without a valid license issued therefor by the Director in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.
2. A license issued under this Chapter shall be displayed at all times in an open and conspicuous place in the sexually oriented business for which it was issued.
3. A license issued pursuant to this chapter shall be valid for one (1) year from date of issue. However, any license issued pursuant to this chapter may be suspended or revoked at any time for failure to comply with the regulations contained in this Chapter.
4. A license issued under the provisions of this Chapter shall not be transferred to another person nor shall a single license authorize the operation of more than one (1) sexually oriented business. The location of the one (1) business being licensed shall be designated in the application.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.060 - Regulations pertaining to exhibition of sexually explicit films or videos.
1. A sexually oriented business which exhibits on the premises in a viewing room of less than one hundred fifty (150) square feet of floor space a film, video cassette, or other video reproduction which depicts human sexual intercourse, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, masturbation, urinary or defecatory functions, sadism, masochism, sadomasochistic abuse, exhibition of the genitals or any touching of the genitals, pubic areas, or buttocks of the human male or female, whether alone, or between members of the same or opposite sex, or between humans and animals, in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification, which items are intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer, shall comply with the following requirements:
(a) Each application for a license shall contain a diagram of the premises showing the location of all of the managers' stations, viewing rooms, lighting fixtures, video cameras and monitors installed for monitoring purposes and restrooms, and shall designate all portions of the premises in which customers will not be permitted. Restrooms shall not contain video reproduction equipment. The diagram shall also designate the place at which the permit will be conspicuously displayed, if granted. A professionally prepared diagram in the nature of an engineer's or architect's blueprint shall not be required; however, each diagram shall be oriented to the north or to some designated roadway or object and shall be drawn to a designated scale or with marked dimensions sufficient to show the various internal dimensions of all areas of the interior of the premises to an accuracy of plus or minus six (6) inches. The Director may waive the foregoing diagram for renewal applications if the applicant adopts a diagram that was previously submitted and certifies that the configuration of the premises has not been altered since it was prepared. The application shall be certified to be true and correct by the applicant, and no alteration in the configuration or location of a managers' station or viewing room may be made without the prior approval of the Director.
(b) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to ensure that each viewing room is visible from a,continuous main aisle and remains unobstructed by any doors, curtains, walls, merchandise, display racks or other materials or enclosures at all times that any customer is present on the premises and to ensure that no
customer is permitted access to any area of the premises which has been designated in the application as an area in which customers will not be permitted.
(c) The interior premises, with the exception of any viewing rooms and the aisles contiguous to each viewing room, shall be equipped with overhead lighting fixtures of sufficient intensity to illuminate every place to which customers are permitted access at an illumination of not less than one (1) footcandle as measured at floor level. Each viewing room and the aisles contiguous to such viewing room shall be illuminated with lighting fixtures of sufficient intensity to provide an illumination of not less than three-fourths (¾) footcandle as measured at three (3) feet above floor level. It shall be the duty of the licensee to ensure that the illumination described above is maintained at all times that the premises are open for business.
(d) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to ensure that no act of sexual intercourse, oral sexual contact, or sexual contact, including masturbation, occurs in or on the licensed premises.
(e) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to ensure that not more than one (1) person is present in a viewing room at any time
(f) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to ensure that no openings of any kind exist between viewing rooms, and to make regular inspections for the purpose of so ensuring.
(g) The licensee shall post conspicuous signs or notices advising customers that no act of sexual intercourse, oral sexual contact, or sexual contact, including masturbation is permitted on the premises, and that not more than one (1) person is permitted in a viewing room at any time, and that no openings of any kind are permitted to exist or to be made between viewing rooms.
(h) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to ensure that all wall surfaces, seating surfaces and floor coverings in viewing rooms, or any room or area providing patron privacy, are constructed of, or permanently covered by, nonporous, easily cleanable materials, with no rugs or carpeting.
(i) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to ensure that the premises are clean and sanitary at all times. Cleaning procedures shall include all of the following:
i. The licensee shall maintain a regular cleaning schedule, documented by appropriate logs, and shall employ sufficient personnel to assure the establishment is clean.
ii. The licensee shall provide an employee to check all areas for garbage, trash, bodily fluids and excrement and to remove and clean all areas with a disinfectant. All solid waste generated by the business shall be collected from the premises for lawful disposal at least twice weekly. Prior to collection solid waste shall be stored in a manner that prevents access by animals or members of the public and will not facilitate the creation of a health nuisance.
iii. Thorough cleaning of the entire interior of any room providing customer privacy shall be done using a disinfectant. Cleaning shall include floors, walls, doors, seating, monitors, video cameras, windows and other surfaces.
(j) It shall be the duty of the licensee to ensure that any seating within a viewing room is designed to accommodate one (1) person only.
(k) It shall be the duty of the licensee to provide in a conspicuous place on the premises free information relating to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.
(l) It shall be the duty of the licensee and of any employees of the licensee at the premises to monitor the number of occupants in a viewing room.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.070 - Application for License.
1. Application for a license under this Chapter may be made by submitting to the Director a completed application in such form as may be prescribed by the Director to ensure compliance with this chapter, along with a check or money order in the amount of one hundred ninety dollars ($190.00) for an initial license and one hundred forty dollars ($140.00) for a renewal license. Application forms may be obtained from Department of Revenue. The Director is authorized to utilize the St. Louis County Police Department, the Department of Public Works, or any department or division of St. Louis County which in the opinion of the Director may provide information pertinent to the sufficiency of the application for license.
2. The Director shall notify any applicant for a license within thirty (30) days of receiving the completed application whether the license shall be issued or denied.
3. No license shall issue for any sexually oriented business if:
(a) The proposed location of said business is within one thousand (1000) linear feet from any of the following preexisting land uses, which have been determined by the County Council to be inconsistent with the operation of a sexually oriented business, measured in a straight line from the nearest property line to the nearest property line:
(i) An "R" Residence District or "NU" Non-Urban District;
(ii) A regular place of religious worship;
(iii) A public or private school;
(iv) A public or private university or college;
(v) A hospital or nursing home;
(vi) A licensed day care for children;
(vii) A public park;
(viii) A cultural institution, such as a museum; or
(ix) A pre-existing sexually oriented business; or
(b) The applicant has been convicted of any of the offenses set out in Section 821.030 of this Chapter.
4. A sexually oriented business in operation at the time this Chapter is enacted that has submitted to the Director a properly completed application for a license and licensing fee may continue to operate until such time as the applicant is notified of the denial or revocation of any license issued or to be issued pursuant to this Chapter. Applications shall be made within twenty-one (21) days of the date this Chapter becomes effective, and failure so to apply shall be construed as a voluntary relinquishment of any right to operate such sexually oriented business.
5. The Director shall issue a license if the information submitted in the application, along with any other pertinent information available to the Director, demonstrates that the business to be licensed complies with the provisions of this Chapter.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.080 - Renewal of License.
1. Licensees desiring to renew current licenses shall, not less than ten (10) days prior to the expiration of the license, file with the Director an application for renewal. Upon payment of the
license fee as provided for herein, the Director shall renew the license for an additional license year if the conditions under which the original license was issued have not changed.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.090 - Suspension and Revocation of Licenses.
1. The Director, after public hearing, may suspend or revoke any license issued under this Code for violations of this Code.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.100 - Appeal from Denial Suspension or Revocation of License.
An applicant who has been denied either an initial license or a renewal license, or whose license has been suspended or revoked may appeal the Director's decision by filing a written notice of appeal within ten (10) days of the denial. The Director shall hold a public hearing of the appeal within ten (10) days of receipt of such notice of appeal and shall issue a decision thereon within five (5) working days of the public hearing. An applicant aggrieved by the Director's decision may file a written notice of appeal to the County Council within ten (10) days of the final decision of the Director. The County Council shall schedule a public hearing of such appeal within two (2) weeks of filing of the written notice of appeal, or as soon thereafter as is possible if the County Council is not in session when the notice of appeal is filed. The County Council shall affirm the decision of the Director if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the conditions pertinent to issuance of a license have not been met. An applicant aggrieved by any decision shall have the right to seek judicial review at any time during the process as is permitted by applicable state law.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.110 - Inspection.
The Director shall quarterly inspect any sexually oriented business within the County's authority to determine compliance with any of the provisions of this Chapter. The fee for such inspections shall be fifty five dollars ($55.00) per inspection. The Director may request the assistance of the St. Louis County Police, the Department of Health, the Department of Public Works, or any department or division of St. Louis County which the Director deems useful in making such inspections as the Director deems necessary.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.120. - Signage.
1. It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of a sexually oriented business to erect, construct or maintain any sign for the sexually oriented business except for one primary and one secondary sign, as provided herein.
2. Primary signs shall have no more than two (2) display surfaces which shall:
(i) Not contain any flashing lights;
(ii) Be a flat plane, rectangular in shape;
(iii) Not exceed seventy-five (75) square feet in area; and
(iv) Not exceed ten (10) feet in height or ten (10) feet in length.
(v) Not contain a photograph, silhouette, drawing or pictorial representation of any kind, and may display only the name of the sexually oriented business, and one (1) or more of the following:"adult bookstore," "adult movie (or video) theater," "adult novelties," "adult entertainment."
3. Secondary signs shall have only one display surface. Such display surface shall:
(i) Be a flat plane, rectangular in shape;
(ii) Not exceed twenty (20) square feet in area;
(iii) Not exceed five (5) feet in height and four (4) feet in width;
(iv) Be affixed to a door or to a wall of the sexually oriented business; A secondary sign shall comply with the provisions of subsection 2.(v) of this section.
4. Any sign located on the premises of a commercial multi-unit center containing an enterprise that displays the name, or any portion of the name of the enterprise, any name under which any enterprise was formerly operated on the premises, or that contains any of the terms set forth in subsection 3. of this section, or any other terminology that is commonly used to identify, or is associated with the presence of a sexually oriented business, shall comply with the restrictions of this section. The intent of this subsection is to prevent the use of the signage identifying the commercial multi-use center itself as a subterfuge to evade the restrictions on sexually oriented business signs set forth in this section.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)
821.130 - Enforcement.
1. The County may sue in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri, for an injunction to prohibit the violation of any of the provisions in this Chapter.
2. Violation of any of the provisions contained in this Chapter shall be punishable by:
(a) A fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1000.00); or
(b) Confinement in jail for a term not to exceed one (1) year; or
(c) Both such fine and confinement.
(O. No. 18548, 7-17-97)