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16 Planning February 1999 <br />p A N N <br />A T <br />Sheii's aiu! lln’ iunn- famous Chit ken Riuich ate hath lomlaf in \\e Conniy. Xevmta. Pi oslitnlitot is Ic^al ihrre <br />though it is prohibited in othei pails of the state. <br />moved to other locations within <br />the city, as New York’s new <br />regulations allow. <br />Demand <br />The demand for adult enter­ <br />tainment has created a big in­ <br />dustry' that is growing rapidly. <br />According to the trade publi­ <br />cation Adult Video News, the <br />cash value of adult video sales <br />and rentals e.xceeds that of all <br />other ty^pesof videos combined. <br />Live adult entertainment has <br />also expanded across the coun­ <br />try. A 1994 survey conducted <br />by planners in New York City <br />showed that the number of <br />adult establishments in the city <br />had increased 30 percent in <br />the preceding five years. That <br />finding became a powerful in­ <br />centive for the new regula ­ <br />tions. <br />Before imposing the new regu­ <br />lations, though. New York was <br />obliged to define “adult.* The <br />late U.S. Supreme Court Jus­ <br />tice Felix Frankfurter neatly <br />summed up his definition of <br />pornography when he said, *1 <br />know it when I see it.* But that <br />definition doesn't provide much <br />guidance to planners. Cincin­ <br />nati and other communities have <br />tackled this problem by explic ­ <br />itly defining regulated adult ac ­ <br />tivities and enumerating parts <br />of the anatomy that constitute <br />adult entertainment when dis­ <br />played. <br />New York’s rules specify <br />that a business falls into the <br />adult category when 40 per­ <br />cent of its trade is of an adult <br />nature. Among the criteria used <br />to measure the 40 percent <br />t* reshold: floor area devoted <br />to adult products, volume of <br />goods on the shelves, and cash <br />value. <br />However, many neighbor­ <br />hood video stores also carry <br />adult videos, often segregated <br />in an adults-only section. In <br />New York, and most of the <br />country, this type of commerce <br />is relatively uncontroversial, <br />leading some to say the issue <br />is not one of the content but <br />the face that adult establish ­ <br />ments present to the commu­ <br />nity. Some experts say that <br />signage and other appearance <br />issues are the key to control­ <br />ling the negative effects asso ­ <br />ciated with adult uses. But this <br />argument hasn't been persua ­ <br />sive in the vast majority of <br />communities, which continue <br />to try to limit the number and <br />location of adult businesses. <br />Sorting tnem out <br />Bookstores and video stores <br />are the most common types of <br />adult uses and have virtually <br />unfettered legal protection. <br />Peep shows, video arcades, and <br />cinemas with recorded per­ <br />formances form a second group; <br />here, the regulations tend to <br />follow the more restrictive rules <br />that apply to all types of gath ­ <br />ering places. <br />Most problematic are estab ­ <br />lishments where live perfor­ <br />mances take place —theaters, <br />dance clubs, and topless bars. <br />These generally have a greater <br />impact on neighborhoods than <br />retail shops, and the fact that <br />live performers are in physi­ <br />cal contact with patrons can <br />lead to problems with prosti­ <br />tution. But local governments <br />can control these t^^pes of busi­ <br />nesses—by controlling their <br />hours of operation and liquor <br />licenses, and by imposing regu­ <br />lations that apply to public <br />performance places. <br />Ironically, places that allow <br />physical contact between a cus­ <br />tomer and an employee seem <br />to present less of a problem for <br />planners than less visible busi­ <br />nesses. Escort services that are