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less desirable to people who would have the ability and inclination to improve their <br />homes. <br />The Working Group made some inquiry to determine to what extent smaller cities <br />outside the Twin Cities Metropolitan area suffered adverse impacts of sexually oriented <br />businesses. The Working Group was informed by the chiefs of police of Northfield and <br />Owatonna that neither city had adult bookstores or similar sexually oriented <br />businesses. Police chiefs in Rochester and Winona stated that sexually oriented <br />businesses In their communities operate in non-residential areas. In addition, there is <br />no "concentration" problem. • In Rochester, there are two facilities in a shopping mall <br />and a single bookstore in a depressed commercial/business neighborhood. The <br />Winona store Is located in a downtown business area The police chiefs stated that <br />they had no evidence of Increased crime rates in the area adjacent to these facilitiea' <br />They had no information as to the effect which these businesses might have on local <br />property values. <br />m <br />• I <br />Information presented to the Working Group indicates that community impacts of <br />sexually oriented businesses are primarily a function of two variables, proximity to <br />residential areas and concentration. Property values are directly affected within a small <br />radius of the location of a sexually oriented business. Concentration may compound <br />depression of properly values and may lead to an increase in crime sufficient to change <br />the quality of life and perceived desirability of property in a neighborhood. <br />The evidence suggests that the irripacts cf sexually oriented businesses are <br />exacerbated when they are located near each other. Police officers testified to the <br />Working Group, that "vice breeds vice." When sexually oriented businesses have <br />multiple uses (i.e. theater, bookstore, nude dancing, peep booths), one building can <br />have the impact of several separate businesses. The Working Group heard testimony <br />that concentration of sexually oriented businesses creates a "war zone" which serves <br />as a magnet for people from other areas who "know" where to find prostitutes and <br />sexual entertainment The presence of bars in the immediate vicinity of sexually <br />oriented businesses also compounds impacts upon the neighborhood. <br />-13*