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NEGATIVE SECONDARY EFFECTS OF SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSES: SUMMARIES OF KEY REPORTS GARDEN GROVE, CALIFORNIA September 12, 1991 This report by independent consultants summarized statistics to determine whether adult businesses should be regulated because of their impact on crime, property values and quality of life. Statistics were measured from 1981 to 1990, and included crime data and surveys with real estate professionals and city residents. Garden Grove Boulevard, which has seven adult businesses, was selected as the study area. The study incorporated many control factors to insure accurate results. The report included a brief legal history of adult business regulation and an extensive appendix with sample materials and a proposed statute. Crime increased significantly with the opening of an adult business, or with the expansion of an existing business or the addition of a bar nearby. The rise was greatest in "serious" offenses (termed "Part I" crimes: homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and auto theft). On Garden Grove Boulevard, the adult businesses accounted for 36 percent of all crime in the area. In one case, a bar opened less than 500 feet from an adult business, and serious crime within 1,000 feet of that business rose more than 300 percent the next year. Overwhelmingly, respondents said that an adult business within 200-500 feet of a residential and commercial property depreciates that property value. The greatest impact was on single family homes. The chief factor cited for the depreciation was the increased crime associated with adult businesses. Phone calls were made in a random sample of households in the Garden Grove Boulevard vicinity. The public consensus was that adult businesses in that area were a serious problem. Nearly 25 percent of the surveyed individuals lived within 1,000 feet of an adult business. More than 21 percent cited specific personal experiences of problems relating to these businesses, including crime, noise, litter and general quality of life. Eighty percent said they would want to move if an adult business opened in their neighborhood, with 60 percent saying they "would move" or "probably would move." Eighty-five percent supported city regulation of the locations of adult businesses, with 78 percent strongly advocating the prohibition of adult businesses within 500 feet of a residential area, school or church. Women commonly expressed fear for themselves and their children because of adult businesses. The report concluded that adult businesses have a "real impact" on everyday life through harmful secondary effects and made four recommendations: (1) keep current requirement o f 1,000 feet separation between adult businesses; (2) prohibit adult establishments within 1,000 feet of residential areas; (3) enact a system of conditional use permits for adult businesses with 1 000014