Adult Uses: Adequate Alternative Sites

Constitutional Background

The Supreme Court has long held that the First Amendment protects “adult” uses. But the Court has emphasized that the protection is limited: Although a municipality may not restrict adult establishments merely because the municipality seeks to suppress the content displayed in the establishment, the municipality may limit the location of adult establishments “to prevent crime, protect the city's retail trade, maintain property values, and generally protect and preserve the quality of the city's neighborhoods, commercial districts, and the quality of urban life.” City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 US 41, 48. That is, a municipality may regulate adult establishments to address the “secondary effects” generated by those establishments. But the Supreme Court in Renton made it clear that regulation of adult establishments would be upheld only if the zoning ordinance permitted “reasonable alternative avenues of communication.” Id. at 50. In other words, the municipality may zone adult establishments out of some areas (say, the downtown business district), but must provide some suitable areas in which adult establishments are permitted.