Will Adult Entertainment Ordinance Hold Up?

Posted: 9:50 PM Dec 30, 2007
Email Address: chris.sadeghi@kake.com


A zoning ordinance in Wichita forcing adult entertainment stores to leave town will take effect on January 1st. However, that is not expected to have an impact on some businesses right away. A constitutional challenge will determine if the ordinance will hold up in court.

Back in 2005, the Wichita City Council approved the ordinance, giving adult entertainment shops over two years to move or shutdown. While some have closed, at least three are still open and will not be cited until a ruling is made on the law's constitutionality.

The lawsuit challenging the ordinance will be filed shortly after the turn of the new year.

Below is a statement by the city, released on Monday, Dec 31.

SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESS ORDINANCE STATUS

As of Jan. 1, the moratorium on new licenses for sexually oriented businesses within the City of Wichita will expire. The moratorium was approved Feb. 8, 2005, by the Wichita City Council.

The Council also enacted a new zoning ordinance on that date that restricts those businesses to areas that are further than 500 feet from a church, school, public park, licensed in day care center, residential zoning district boundary, Old Town district boundary, or other adult entertainment establishment.

The 2005 ordinance defines a sexually oriented business within the City of Wichita as a holder of a valid adult entertainment establishment license. By adding the definition, the City’s regulatory code became consistent with the existing City-County unified zoning code.

As of Feb. 8, 2005, there were nine sexually oriented businesses validly operating in the City of Wichita in areas prohibited by the new limitations. The moratorium provided a two-year grace period for those businesses to voluntarily comply with the new ordinance.

Since the enactment of the 2005 ordinance, four of these businesses have closed their doors and ceased to operate. The City is in the process of negotiating the eminent closure of two such additional businesses.

The ordinance requires the City to test the constitutional validity of the ordinance in court before it seeks to enforce it against any of the remaining, pre-existing businesses. It is likely there will be three such businesses. These businesses will not be sued directly. There are available court procedures that will allow the City to seek a court determination without placing the burden of defense on those businesses. However, those remaining businesses will have an opportunity to appear in court if they so choose to address the validity of the ordinance.

There are seven sexually oriented businesses in the City currently operating in areas allowed by the resolution.

The specific ordinance that addresses the lawsuit requirement is found at VII-J.2.c of the Wichita/ Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code.

Dale Goter
Government Relations Manager
City of Wichita



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