104 West Washington Street II Corp. v. City of Hagerstown

920 A.2d 482, 173 Md. App. 553, 2007 Md. App. LEXIS 48
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedApril 3, 2007
DocketNo. 1377
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 920 A.2d 482 (104 West Washington Street II Corp. v. City of Hagerstown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
104 West Washington Street II Corp. v. City of Hagerstown, 920 A.2d 482, 173 Md. App. 553, 2007 Md. App. LEXIS 48 (Md. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

KRAUSER, J.

Appellant 104 West Washington Street II Corporation brought a declaratory judgment action in the Circuit Court for Washington County against the City of Hagerstown (“City”). The City’s “Adult Businesses Ordinance,” it claimed, violated appellant’s right to free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. The Ordinance required, among other things, that “certain adult-oriented businesses” in the City apply for and obtain licenses, limit their hours of operation, and ensure that their booths, cubicles and other enclosed areas for viewing adult videos were not completely closed. The complaint also included a claim against P.L. Smith, a Hagerstown police officer who had, it alleged, “threatened and intimidated” appellant’s employees for failing to comply with the terms of the Ordinance. But this claim was later dropped, leaving the City as the only defendant.

The City responded with a motion for summary judgment. The circuit court granted that motion in part, declaring that the Ordinance was “constitutional in every other respect” except for its failure to provide a time limit for issuing or [558]*558rejecting an adult business’s application for a license. The City promptly amended the Ordinance so that it included a time limit for issuing or denying an adult business license and renewed its motion for summary judgment. That motion was granted in full, triggering this appeal.

Appellant presents three issues for our review. As set forth in its brief, they are:

I. Whether the circuit court erred in declaring the Ordinance constitutional, given the absence of any evidence in the legislative record, according to appellant, showing that the restrictions placed upon communication serve a significant state interest and that the Ordinance is narrowly drawn so as to render any incidental restriction upon freedom of speech no greater than necessary;
II. Whether the circuit court erred in considering documents that the City provided in support of its motion for summary judgment because these documents, according to appellant, did not meet the affidavit requirements under the Maryland Rules;
III. Whether the circuit court erred in finding that the Ordinance was not an unconstitutional prior restraint of speech, despite its failure, according to appellant, to provide for appellate-level judicial review of the City’s decision to deny, revoke, or suspend an adult business license.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

Background

There is no dispute as to the facts of this case. Appellant owns and operates a business at 23 E. Washington Street in Hagerstown that sells books, magazines, video, lingerie and novelties that are “adult” in nature. At the back of its store, appellant provides booths for customers to view adult videos. The store has been Hagerstown’s only adult business since 1990.

[559]*559Prior to September 2002 1, Hagerstown Chief of Police Arthur Smith reportedly received complaints of illegal drug activity occurring at appellant’s place of business during the early morning hours before 6:00 a.m. The complaints were made by employees of WHAG, a local television station that occupied a building adjacent to appellant’s business, and by tenants of two nearby apartment complexes. According to Chief Smith, the employees and the tenants expressed considerable concern as to their personal safety. Chief Smith conveyed their concerns to the Hagerstown Police Department’s Street Crimes Division for further investigation and passed them along to other city officials as well.

During this time, Chief Smith met with a man who claimed he had contracted Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”) after engaging in “hundreds” of homosexual encounters at appellant’s place of business. “Heterosexual men,” he informed Smith, were performing homosexual acts at appellant’s business in exchange for money to support their drug habits. The acts took place by means of “glory holes” in the partitions that separated the video-display booths at the back of appellant’s store. He feared that the heterosexuals, who had contracted sexually transmitted diseases by engaging in homosexual acts at appellant’s business, might retaliate against the City’s gay community. Chief Smith notified City officials of the man’s concerns.

Some time later, Chief Smith, accompanied by Hagerstown City Attorney Mark Boyer and City Administrator Bruce Zimmerman, conducted an on-site inspection of appellant’s business. At that time, Chief Smith stated, he “personally observed the ‘glory holes’ which had been described to [him] by the man who [had] contracted AIDS.”

On May 30, 2002, the Washington County Health Department issued an order requiring appellants to “cease and desist all structural activities [glory holes] that enable sexual contact [560]*560[to] tak[e] place” because “said structural activity constitutes a dangerous condition and/or nuisance that could facilitate the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and must be abated immediately.”

The Ordinance

On September 5, 2002, City Interim Planning Director Deborah Everhart sent City Administrator Bruce Zimmerman a memorandum proposing an Adult Business Ordinance. The ordinance, according to Everhart, would regulate the “time, place, and manner” in which the City’s adult businesses operated. Copies of Everhart’s memorandum were sent to the Mayor and City Council members, as well as to the City Clerk, City Attorney, and City Finance Director.

On October 22, 2002, “the Mayor and City Council,” as noted in the minutes of the Council’s 22nd Session, “unanimously agreed by voice vote to adopt [the] Ordinance,” which was incorporated into Chapter 46 of the Hagerstown City Code as §§ 46-1, 46-2, 46-3, 46-4, 46-5 and 46-6:

§ 46-1. Purpose. The purpose of this Ordinance is to protect the health, welfare, safety, morals and general welfare of the citizens of the City by addressing the deleterious secondary effects of certain adult oriented businesses operating within the City; to prevent the impairment of, or detriment to neighboring properties; to promote safe, sanitary conditions and combat the spread of sexually transmitted disease; and to protect children who may be attracted to such establishments. This chapter does not have, and is not intended to have the purpose or effect of imposing a limitation or restriction on the content of any communicative material, or to infringe upon the reasonable exercise of a legitimate business.
§ 46-2. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter the following terms shall have the following meanings:
A. Adult business. Any commercial establishment located in the City that:
[561]*561I. has 5% or more of its stock on the premises, or has 5% or more of its stock on display, in books, magazines, periodicals, photographs, drawings, sculptures, motion pictures, films, videos or other similar images by any medium which depict specified sexual activities or anatomical areas;
II.

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Bluebook (online)
920 A.2d 482, 173 Md. App. 553, 2007 Md. App. LEXIS 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/104-west-washington-street-ii-corp-v-city-of-hagerstown-mdctspecapp-2007.