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<br />II. Permitted Regulations of Adult Use Is to Mitigated "Secondary Impacts" of Adult Use <br />Establishments. <br /> <br />A. In City of Renton v Playtime Theaters, 475 US 41.89 L Ed 2d 29.106 S Ct 925 <br />(1986), the U. S. Supreme Court established a four-part test to determine when <br />zoning regulations for adult businesses do not violate the First Amendment: <br /> <br />1. Whether the predominant purpose of the zoning is to suppress the sexually <br />explicit speech itself, or rather, to eliminate the "secondary effects" of adult <br />uses; <br /> <br />2. Whether the zoning regulation furthers a substantial governmental interest; <br /> <br />3. Whether the zoning regulation is "narrowly tailored" to affect only those uses <br />which produced the unwanted secondary effects; and <br /> <br />4. Whether the zoning regulations leave open reasonable alternative locations <br />for adult uses - In the New York case of the Town of Islip v Caviglia, 73 <br />N.Y.2d 544 (1989), the court upheld Islip's regulations allowing adult uses <br />only in an area zoned for industrial use, which the court found provided ample <br />space for the development of such uses. <br /> <br />B. Hence, the federal and state constitutions protect the content of adult <br />entertainment activity. <br /> <br />1. Police power justifying zoning regulations cannot be aimed at suppressing or <br />limiting the content of the use. <br /> <br />2. "When municipal regulations impinge on an adult business's freedom of <br />expression, they lose the presumption of constitutionality that normally <br />applies to zoning regulations, and the burden shifts to local government to <br />justify its restrictions." New York State Department of State Counsel's Office, <br />Opinions of Counsel: Municipal Regulation of Adult uses After the <br />Stringfellows Decision. <br /> <br />3. Municipal regulations cannot focus on regulating adult uses because of what <br />those uses contain, whether it be sexually explicit printed material, videos, or <br />nude dancing. <br /> <br />C. Municipalities, however, are allowed to regulate adult uses in a manner that <br />seeks to mitigate the potential secondary impacts (increase in crime, drug use, <br />lowering of property values, etc.) often associated with adult entertainment uses. <br /> <br />1. In the case of Stringfellow's of New York, Ltd., v City of New York, the New <br />York State Court of Appeals developed a test for determining the validity of <br />zoning regulations under Article I, Section 8 of the New York State <br />Constitution which includes: <br /> <br />a. The zoning regulation must be justified by concerns unrelated to speech; <br />Le. secondary impacts; <br /> <br />2 <br />