Tigue, Minneapolis, MN, for Plaintiffs. Anderson and Amy E. Mace, Minneapolis, MN, for Defendant. Based on the arguments and memoranda of counsel, the evidence in the record, and the applicable law, the Court makes the following. The King's Inn offered live, nude dance entertainment to the public. Benton County in July then passed a zoning ordinance limiting the location of sexually-oriented businesses [2].
In enacting the zoning ordinance, the Benton County Commissioners considered studies of the effects of sexually-oriented businesses on the neighborhoods surrounding those businesses. Those studies were conducted in St. Those studies and reports suggest, in varying degrees, that sexually-oriented businesses may cause an increase in crime rates, a decrease in property values, and other adverse secondary effects in the areas surrounding those businesses. Plaintiff SOB, Inc.
Sugar Daddy's offers live, nude dance entertainment to the public. Within a week of the opening of Sugar Daddy's, the Benton County Attorney, in response to a request from the Benton County Commissioners for additional means of regulating sexually-oriented businesses, presented the Benton County Commissioners with a draft ordinance prohibiting "public indecency.
Croix County, Wisconsin, and St. Paul, Minnesota. The additional studies reach conclusions consistent with those of the studies Benton County considered in enacting the earlier zoning ordinance.
At that hearing, the Benton County Commissioners received written and oral comments from both proponents and opponents of the proposed ordinance. Plaintiff Mark Van Gelder presented the Benton County Commissioners with a study disputing the link between sexually-oriented businesses and adverse secondary effects. Van Gelder also presented evidence suggesting that the businesses offering live, nude entertainment in Benton County had no demonstrable adverse effects upon local crime rates or property values.
