Spokane Municipal Code

Title 10 Regulation of Activities

Division V. Code Enforcement and Animal Regulations

Chapter 10.72 Adult Arcades

Section 10.72.030 Definitions

1. “Adult arcade” or “adult arcade premises” means any premises on which any adult arcade device is located and to which patrons, customers, and/or members of the public are admitted.

2. “Adult arcade device,” sometimes also known as “panoram,” “preview,” “picture arcade,” or “peep show,” means any device which, for payment of a fee, membership fee, or other charge, is used to exhibit or display a picture, view, film, videotape, live show, or other graphic display of “specified anatomical areas.”

1. 1. All such devices are denominated under this chapter by the term “adult arcade device.”

1. 2. The term “adult arcade device,” as used in this chapter, does not include games which employ pictures, views or video displays, or gambling devices regulated by the state or by other provisions of the Spokane Municipal Code.

3. “Adult arcade manager” means any person who manages, operates, directs, administers, or is in charge of the affairs and/or the conduct of any adult arcade premises.

4. “Adult arcade owner” means any person who owns and/or has a substantial ownership interest in the business.

5. “Adult arcade station” or “booth” means such an enclosure where a patron, member, or customer would ordinarily be positioned while using an adult arcade device or viewing a live show.

1. 1. “Adult arcade station” or “booth” also refers to the area in which an adult arcade device is located and from which the adult arcade picture, view, live show, or graphic display is to be viewed.

1. 2. The words “adult arcade station” or “booth” do not mean such an enclosure that is a private office used by an owner, manager, or person employed on the premises for attending to the tasks of his employment, which enclosure is not held out to the patron, member, or the public for use, for hire, or for a fee for the purpose of viewing the entertainment provided by the arcade device or live show, and not open to any person other than employees.

6. “License” or “licensee” is meant to include the words “permit” or “permittee” and means the privilege or the holder of any privilege, respectively, under this chapter or other law or ordinance.

7. “Licensing administrator” means the director of neighborhood services and code enforcement or designee.

8. The words “open to an adjacent public room so that the area inside is visible to persons in the adjacent public room” mean that there may be no door, curtain, partition, or other device extending from the floor to the top of the door frame with the exception of a door which is completely transparent and constructed of safety glass as specified in the International Building Code , Section 2406, so that the activity and occupant inside the enclosure may be clearly and easily viewed or seen by persons outside the enclosure from any point in the adjacent public room.

1. “Person” is meant to include an individual, a natural person, a proprietorship, a partnership, a joint venture, a society, an association, a club, a trustee, a trust, or a corporation.

10. “Premises” is meant to include the land, structures, places, the equipment, and appurtenances connected or used in any business, and any personal property or fixtures used in connection with any business.

11. “Specified anatomical areas” means human:

1. genitals, pubic region, buttock, and female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola when such areas are less than completely and opaquely covered;

2. male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.

12. “Specified sexual activities” means:

1. human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal;

2. acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse, or sodomy;

3. fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttock, or female breast.

Date Passed: Monday, October 3, 2022

Effective Date: Monday, October 3, 2022

ORD C36289 Section 5