The purpose and intent of this Section is to regulate uses which, because of their nature, are recognized as having potentially serious objectionable operational characteristics and which have been proven to adversely affect neighborhood children, community improvement efforts, retail trade, and commercial and residential property values, particularly when such uses are concentrated in a small area of the community. Special regulation of these uses is necessary and the primary purposes of such Regulations are to prevent a concentration of these uses in any one area, to minimize any adverse impacts and to assure that these adverse effects will not contribute to the blighting or degradation of the surrounding neighborhoods. Accordingly, these Regulations are intended to prevent any concentration of these uses and to protect the health, safety, general welfare, property values and quality of life in Shelton. In addition to the provisions of this Section as set forth below, all adult oriented businesses shall be subject to regulations and provisions of other applicable State and local ordinances, including the City of Shelton Ordinance regarding Adult Oriented Business Establishments.
For the purposes of this Section, certain words and terms uses herein are defined as follows:
a. ADULT ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS : A public or private establishment which is customarily not open to the general public but only to one or more classes of the public, thereby excluding any minor by reason of age, and whose principal activity includes but is not limited to one or a combination of the following types of businesses: adult book store, adult motion picture theater, adult mini-motion picture theater, adult cabaret, adult novelty business, adult personal service business.
b. ACCESSORY ADULT USE : An establishment, other than an adult personal service establishment, having less than ten (10) percent of its stock in trade in books, magazines, video tapes, adult materials and devices used for sexual stimulation or display films for sale, barter or rent or for viewing on premises by use of motion picture devices or any other coin operated means and other printed materials which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matters depicting or relating to "Specified Sexual Activities" or "Specific Anatomical Areas". Any such accessory adult use shall be enclosed and controlled so as to restrict exposure and entry to exclude any minor by reason of age. All adult personal service establishments and activities shall be deemed to be a principal activity.
c. ADULT BOOK STORE : An establishment having ten (10) percent or more of its stock in trade in books, magazines, video tapes, adult materials and devices used for sexual stimulation or display films for sale or rent or for viewing on premises by use of motion picture devices or any other coin operated means and other printed materials and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matters depicting or relating to "Specified Sexual Activities" or "Specific Anatomical Areas".
d. ADULT VIDEO STORE : An establishment having ten (10) percent or more of its stock in trade, video tapes or films for sale or rent or for viewing on premises by use of motion picture devices or any other coin operated means, and other printed materials and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matters depicting or relating to "Specified Sexual Activities" or "Specific Anatomical Areas".
e. ADULT MOTION PICTURE THEATER . An enclosed building with a capacity of 50 or more persons used regularly and routinely for presenting motion picture films, video cassettes, cable television, or any other such visual media, distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matters depicting, describing or relating to "Specified Sexual Activities" or "Specific Anatomical Areas" for observation by patrons therein and from which minors are excluded by virtue of age.
f. ADULT MINI-MOTION PICTURE THEATER . An enclosed building with a capacity of less than 50 persons used regularly and routinely for presenting materials having as a dominant theme material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matters depicting, describing or relating to "Specified Sexual Activities" or "Specific Anatomical Areas" for observation by patrons therein and from which minors are excluded by virtue of age.
h. ADULT CABARET - A public or private establishment which is licensed to serve food and/or alcoholic beverages, which features nude or partially nude dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers, or acts relating to "Specified Sexual Activities' or "Specific Anatomical Areas" for observation by patrons therein and from which minors are excluded by virtue of age.
1. ADULT NOVELTY BUSINESS : An establishment having ten (10) percent or more of its stock in trade in adult materials, toys and other devices designed for sexual stimulation and which excludes minors by virtue of age.
j. ADULT PERSONAL SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTS : An establishment, club, or business by whatever name designated which offers or advertises or is equipped or arranged so as to allow a person while clothed, nude or partially nude to provide personal services for a person of the same or other sex on an individual basis in an open or closed room and which excludes minors by virtue of age. Such services or activities include but are not limited to massages, body rubs, alcohol rubs, baths and other similar treatments, as well as modeling studios, body painting studios, "tattoo" parlors, body piercing studios, wrestling studios, individual theatrical performances.
k. PARTIALLY NUDE : Means having any part of "Specified Anatomical Areas" less than completely and opaquely covered.
l. PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY : Means a use accounting for ten (10) percent or more of a business stock in trade, display space, or floor space, or movie display time per month.
m. SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITIES :
1) Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal;
2) Sex acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; and
3) Fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus or female breast.
n. SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS :
1) Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, cleft of buttocks, and female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola; and
2) Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to nor prohibit the following uses and activities performed by persons pursuant to, and in accordance with, licenses issued to such persons by the State of Connecticut:
a. Treatment by a licensed chiropractor, a licensed osteopath, a Connecticut licensed masseur or masseuse, a licensed practical nurse or a registered professional nurse;
b. Electrolysis treatment by a licensed operator of electrolysis equipment;
c. Hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics or medical offices;
d. Barbershops, or beauty parlors which offer massage to the scalp, the face, the neck or shoulders only;
e. Athletic facilities of an educational institution including alumni club, or of a philanthropic or charitable institution; and
f. Health establishments including commercial and non-commercial clubs, which are equipped and arranged to provide instruction, services, or activities which improve or affect a person's physical condition by physical exercise or by massage. Physical exercise programs include aerobics, martial arts or the use of exercise equipment.
Regulated uses refer to all Adult Oriented Establishments which include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
a. Adult Book Store
b. Adult Video Store
c. Adult Motion Picture Theater
d. Adult Mini-Motion Picture Theater
e. Adult Cabaret
f. Adult Novelty Business
g. Adult Personal Service Establishment
An adult oriented establishment may be located in a Commercial CB-2 District subject to the approval of a Special Exception and in accordance with the following standards and criteria in addition to the standards and criteria set forth in Section 33:
a. No such adult oriented establishment shall be located within 200 feet of any residentially zoned area;
b. No such adult oriented establishment shall be located within 500 feet of the property line of any public, private, or parochial school, or other educational facility serving individuals under the age of 17 years, day-care center, park, library or other public building, playground, church, convent, monastery, synagogue, or similar place of worship, or cemetery.
c. No such adult oriented establishment shall be located within 500 feet of the property line of any lot containing a pre-existing establishment which sells alcoholic beverages (other than beer and wine) for on-premises consumption, or within 200 feet of the property line of any lot containing a pre-existing restaurant or other food service establishment which does not sell alcoholic beverages (other than beer and wine) for on-premises consumption.
d. No such adult oriented establishment shall be located within 1,000 feet of another such establishment, whether pre-existing or proposed.
e. For purposes of compliance with these separation requirements, distances shall be measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest principal entrance to the adult oriented establishment to the residential zone boundary or to the nearest boundary of the premises containing the uses specified in (b), (c) and (d) above.
e. In accordance with C.G.S. 8-6, these regulations and provisions shall not be varied by the Zoning Board of Appeals to accommodate the location of an adult oriented establishment.
No adult use shall be conducted in any manner that permits the observation of any material depicting, describing or relating to "Specified Sexual Activities" or "Specified Anatomical Areas", from any public way or from any property not registered as an adult oriented establishment. This requirement shall also apply to any display, decoration, sign, show window or other opening.
All Adult Oriented Business Establishments shall be licensed as required by City Ordinance and shall be registered with the Zoning Enforcement Office. It shall be a violation of these Regulations for the owner or person in control of any property to establish or operate thereon or to permit any person to establish or operate thereon a regulated Adult Entertainment Establishment without having received Zoning Approval and the required City License and without having properly registered the regulated Adult Oriented Establishment. Any lawful, preexisting Adult Oriented Establishment in operation prior to the effective date of these Regulations shall be registered within 30 days of the effective date of these Regulations. It shall be the responsibility of the owner of a building or his/her agent responsible for the management or control of a building or premises, which contains an Adult Oriented Establishment, to furnish and maintain on a current basis the following information:
a. The street address of the premises.
b. The name of the owner of the premises, or the names of the beneficial owners if the property is in a land trust.
c. The address of the owner or the beneficial owners.
d. The trade name of the regulated, Adult Oriented Establishment.
e. The name(s) and address(es) of the owner, beneficial owner or the major stockholders of the regulated, Adult Oriented Establishment.
f. The date of initiation of the regulated, Adult Oriented Establishment.
g. If the building or premises is leased, a copy of the said lease shall be furnished.
Should any court of competent jurisdiction declare any section, clause or provision of this Regulation to be unconstitutional, such decision shall affect only such section, clause or provision so declared unconstitutional, and shall not affect any other section, clause or provision of this Regulation.
The Federal Communications Act of 1996 contains important provisions concerning the placement of antenna structures and other facilities for use in providing personal wireless services. The purpose and intent of this SECTION is to accommodate the need for Cell Sites in a manner that protects the municipality, minimizes conflict with adjacent uses and the surrounding area, and to assure the health and safety of the public. The City of Shelton and the Commission recognizes the quasi-public nature of cellular communications systems and finds that these regulations are consistent with the 1996 Act and are necessary to protect the ecological, scenic, historical and recreational values of the community and to ensure that visual and operational effects will not disturb the integrity of residential neighborhoods or contribute to degradation of the surrounding area. More specifically, the purposes are:
a. to accommodate the need for cellular communications antennae while regulating their location and number;
b. to minimize adverse visual effects of cellular communications antennae and antenna or cell site towers through proper design, siting and vegetative screening;
c. to avoid potential damage to adjacent properties from antenna or cell site towers and falling ice through their proper siting and engineering;
d. to encourage the joint use of any new antenna or cell site tower; and
e. to reduce the number of antenna or cell site towers needed in the future.
In the location of new cell sites, consideration must be given to locations in the following order of preference, with due consideration of municipally owner property as appropriate:
a. As co-located facilities on existing towers, tanks, water towers and existing buildings and similar structures in all districts, with preference given to non-residential districts;
b. In those locations where the existing topography, vegetation, buildings or other structures provide the greatest amount of screening;
c. On new towers on bare ground in non-residential districts with visual mitigation wherever possible;
d. On governmental, institutional or other structures in residential districts;
e. On new towers with maximum visual mitigation in residential districts.
An Application for a Certificate of Zoning Compliance shall be filed for all cell sites and antennas. The Application shall include a map showing the extent of planned coverage within the City of Shelton, approved locations of the applicant's other cell sites in the municipality and the location and service area of the proposed cell site. Accessory buildings and structures needed to house equipment in support of a co-located cell site will require an Application for Site Plan Approval for those facilities. When a new cell site tower is proposed, an Application for Approval of a Special Exception is required.
48.3.1 Site Justification Statement: Applications for a new cell site tower must include the location of all high structures within 2,500 feet of the site proposed and a description of the narrowing process that eliminated other potential sites. The applicant must explain the selection process, pursuant to the policies set forth above and document why a Co-Located Cell Site is not possible. Documentation will be assessed with regard to technological unfeasibility, availability of a suitable site, structural feasibility or other proof supported by documentation. Evidence must be included that the owners of all potential locations have been contacted and asked for permission to install the antennas on those structures and each was denied for other than economic reasons. This would include water towers, smoke stacks, high buildings, antenna or towers of other cellular communications companies, other communications towers (fire, police, etc.) and other tall structures. Absence of a good faith effort to mount the antennae on an existing structure shall be sufficient grounds for denial of the Application by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
While the FCC has the sole authority to determine what standards wireless facilities must meet to ensure that their radio frequency emissions do not harm humans or the environment, the Commission may require facilities to be monitored to determine compliance with FCC standards. Upon commencement of operation of the wireless service or at any subsequent time, the Commission may require the owner of said facilities to pay for a qualified, independent consultant, hired by the City, to conduct testing and monitoring of EMF radiation emitted from said site. Said monitoring shall conform to uniformly accepted practices and the results shall be reported to the Commission, the City Engineer and The Valley Health District. If such monitoring should reveal non-compliance with FCC standards, the facility owner shall be given 15 days from the date of official notice to reduce emissions to a level of compliance with FCC standards. Failure to attain compliance shall be reported to the appropriate office of the FCC and shall be deemed a zoning violation and subject to the penalties and fines applicable to such violations. Such penalties and fines shall be payable to the City of Shelton by the owner of the wireless facility until compliance is achieved.
Any antenna that is mounted or attached to an existing communications tower, water tower, governmental or institutional building or other high building or structure is permitted in all Districts, subject to the following maximum height provisions:
a. Omnidirectional or whip antennas shall not exceed twenty (20) feet in height or seven (7) inches in diameter and shall be of a material or color that matches the exterior of the building or structure.
b. Directional or panel antennas shall not exceed five (5) feet in height or two (2) feet in width and shall be of a material or color which matches the exterior of the building or structure.
c. Satellite and microwave dish antennas shall not exceed six (6) feet in diameter and when building or rooftop mounted shall be located or screened so as not to be visible from abutting streets.
d. An antenna may not be located on a building or structure that is listed on a historic register or is in a historic district unless it is approved as a Special Exception.
No Special Exception Application for any Cell Site Tower, Antenna or other wireless communications facility shall be granted unless in conformance with the following standards and conditions:
48.6.1 Fencing: All new Cell Site Towers and related equipment shall be surrounded by a fence not higher than eight (8) feet. Under no circumstances shall said fence include barbed wire, razor wire or similar deterrent measures. All such fencing shall comply with the setback provisions of Schedule B.
48.6.2 Landscaping: The site shall be landscaped to mitigate adverse aesthetic impacts and soften the appearance of a cell site, fencing and related buildings. Any combination of existing vegetation, topography, walls, decorative fences or other features may be permitted in lieu of landscaping if the intent of the landscape screening is achieved to the satisfaction of the Commission.
a. An evergreen screen consisting of a row of evergreen trees planted not more than 10 feet on center shall be required to enclose the site. The evergreen screening shall have a minimum height of six (6) feet at the time of planting.
b. Existing vegetation on and around the site shall be preserved to the maximum extent possible.
48.6.3 Illumination: No lighting of any Cell Site shall be permitted unless mandated by the Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
48.6.4 Signage No commercial advertising sign, symbol, letters or other signage is permitted on any Cell Site, Antenna or Antenna Tower, unless required by law or necessary to ensure public safety.
48.6.5 Antenna Height: No Cell Site Antenna Tower shall exceed the height required to satisfy the technical requirements of the user(s), and in no event shall any tower exceed a height of 100 feet in any residence district or 150 feet in any non-residence district. Notwithstanding the above, in any residence district the Commission may pen-nit an increase of said height to 120 feet for the following reasons:
a) in order to enhance the potential for co-located cell sites; and/or
b) in instances where the proposed tower is located within 200 feet of an existing tower of greater height, provided the increased height does not exceed the height of said existing tower.
48.6.6 Setbacks All antenna towers shall be setback from any property line not less than the minimum setback required by the district in which it is located or 30 percent of the antenna height or 40 feet, whichever is the greatest.
48.6.7 Joint Use Accommodation: In order to minimize the number of cell site towers in the future, all proposed support tower structures are required to accommodate additional users, including other wireless communication companies and local police, fire, ambulance and other non-private emergency services. All antenna towers shall be engineered and constructed to accommodate a minimum of two (2) additional communication service providers, unless it is determined to be technically unfeasible based on information submitted by the applicant and confirmed by the Commission.
48.6.8 Color: All antenna towers shall be of a neutral color deemed appropriate by the Commission.
48.6.9 Professional Certification: All site plans and tower designs, including soils reports and design specifications for foundations and guy wire anchors, shall bear the seal of an appropriate Professional Engineer registered to practice in the State of Connecticut.
