Opinion ID: 774351
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Adult Task Force and Passage of the Ordinance

Text: 7 In May 1996, the Lakewood City Council authorized the Lakewood Planning Advisory Board (Board) to analyze adult entertainment uses within the city. The Board is a seven-member body that provides recommendations to the City Council on land use issues, development regulations and other control measures. The Board formed a subcommittee, the Lakewood Adult Entertainment Task Force (Task Force), to analyze all aspects of adult entertainment in the city. The Board made five formal appointments to the Task Force: three members and two citizens who were in favor of strict regulation of adult businesses. 8 The Task Force conducted 10 or 11 meetings, the majority of them closed to the public. 1 According to Michael Bugher, the City of Lakewood's staff member for the Task Force, task force members preferred that there be occasions when there would not be the public present. While it is unclear what occurred at any specific meeting, the Task Force conducted numerous and diverse tasks. From September 1996 to February 1998, the Task Force toured the adult entertainment businesses in Lakewood, took testimony from Lakewood police officers and members of Washington Together Against Pornography, received business license data on adult businesses, reviewed adult entertainment license fees, examined ownership of adult businesses in Lakewood, surveyed manager and entertainer demographics and met with adult cabaret representatives. The Task Force also reviewed various other cities' adult entertainment regulations, the studies those cities had conducted and federal and state court decisions on the constitutionality of adult entertainment regulation. 9 With this background, the Task Force drafted a report on the regulation of adult businesses. According to the report itself, it constitutes the background, findings and conclusions of the Task Force. It represents the basis for which the City may, if it deems it appropriate, amend adult entertainment regulations pertaining to both business and land use operations now or in the future. The Report discussed the common secondary effects associated with adult entertainment --particularly crime, worsened public health and decreased property values -and made various findings and conclusions about those effects in Lakewood. In addition to the report, the Task Force drafted a new adult cabaret ordinance. 10 The Task Force submitted its report and recommendations to the Planning Advisory Board on March 18, 1998. Soon afterwards, the Lakewood adult entertainment industry submitted to the Board a response to the report. The Board considered these materials and public comments and, on April 15, 1998, recommended to the City Council that it pass a new adult cabaret ordinance. At the same time, the Board forwarded the Task Force's report to the City Council. 11 On May 18, 1998, the Lakewood City Council held a public meeting to consider adopting the proposed new adult cabaret ordinance. According to Bugher, the only evidence the City Council considered was the Task Force's report and the adult entertainment owners' response to that report. At the meeting, the City Council voted to adopt the new adult cabaret regulations and passed Ordinance 171, now codified in the Lakewood Municipal Code (LMC) at §§§§ 5.16.000 -5.16.120. (See Lakewood Municipal Code 5.16.00-5.16.120, Appendix to this Opinion.) 12 The Ordinance, among other things, requires: (a) adult cabaret owners, managers and entertainers to obtain city-issued licenses and in some instances wait 21 or 35 days for their applications to be processed before being able to work or operate; (b) license applicants to disclose their home addresses and phone numbers; (c) an eight-foot separation between the stage and patrons; (d) a four-foot separation between a patron and an entertainer providing a personalized (i.e. table or lap) dance; (e) a three-foot high continuous railing surrounding the stage; (f) minimum lighting provided in all public areas; (g) cabarets to maintain records of their employees; and (h) cabarets to close from 2:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. daily. The Ordinance further prohibits the ownership of multiple adult businesses in the City of Lakewood.