Abilene Retail v. Board of Com'rs of Dickinson Cy.

402 F. Supp. 2d 1285, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30491, 2005 WL 3244436
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedDecember 1, 2005
Docket04-2330 JWL
StatusPublished

This text of 402 F. Supp. 2d 1285 (Abilene Retail v. Board of Com'rs of Dickinson Cy.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abilene Retail v. Board of Com'rs of Dickinson Cy., 402 F. Supp. 2d 1285, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30491, 2005 WL 3244436 (D. Kan. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

LUNGSTRUM, District Judge.

This case involves a claim by Abilene Retail (doing business as The Lion’s Den Adult Superstore) against officials of Dickinson County (“the County”), Kansas, for declaratory and injunctive relief against the County’s Ordinance No. 121304A (“the Ordinance”). The Ordinance is a zoning provision that regulates The Lion’s Den, a sexually oriented business located in Dickinson County. This matter comes before the court on the County’s motion for summary judgment (doc. # 48). For the reasons explained below, the motion is granted.

STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS 1

In 2003, Abilene Retail opened the Lion’s Den Adult Superstore in Dickinson County, which has a population of roughly 6,100. The Lion’s Den sells hundreds of sexual devices, and at least 90% of its inventory is sexually explicit items, materials, or devices. It is the only sexually oriented business in Dickinson County.

In July 2004, the County passed Ordinance No. 070804, which regulated sexually oriented businesses. Abilene Retail immediately challenged that ordinance. The parties agreed to non-enforcement against Abilene Retail, .and that ordinance was soon repealed by the passage of a new ordinance at the end of 2004. 2

Dickinson County passed the new ordinance, Ordinance No. 121304A, on December 13, 2004. It substantially limited the scope of the previous zoning ordinance. Among its provisions regulating sexually oriented businesses in Dickinson County, it (1) increased the threshold of sexually oriented merchandise to 35%; (2) increased the threshold of ownership interest to 30%; (3) provided for judicial review of any licensing dispute and provisional licensing pending any judicial review; (4) reduced the distance limitations from 1,500 feet to 1,200 feet; (5) eliminated all restrictions against signage advertising; and (6) prohibited sexually oriented businesses from operating between midnight and 6 A.M.

About one week before the commissioners passed the new ordinance, they received testimony at a public hearing. They also reviewed reports and studies, case law, and legislative evidence on the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses. Reflecting on these efforts, the new ordinance included in its preamble nearly four pages explaining that the Ordinance’s purpose is to regulate the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses. Notably, it discussed 27 court cases affirming the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses, including guidance in Z.J. Gifts D-2, L.L.C. v. City of Aurora, 136 F.3d 683 (10th Cir.1998). It also discussed 22 reports verifying these seeond- *1288 ary effects, including 7 reports cited affirmatively by the Tenth Circuit in City of Aurora. See id. at 687 n. 1. Later, in March 2005, the County passed Ordinance No. 032805. It designated ten available areas for sexually oriented businesses to locate in Dickinson County.

Abilene Retail disputes that the County actually relied on any of the cases or reports documenting the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses. In support, it points to parts of the record where the commissioners could not clarify their understanding or specific reliance upon the cases and reports at issue. During the course of litigation, it retained an expert witness, Dr. Linz, who substantially questions the methodology underlying many of the reports cited by the County. In turn, the County retained its own expert, Dr. McCleary, who largely refuted Dr. Linz’s allegations. The County also identified several federal cases that have rejected Dr. Linz’s arguments as legally insignificant under the established framework for upholding a zoning ordinance that regulates sexually oriented businesses.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Summary judgment is appropriate if the moving party demonstrates that there is “no genuine issue as to any material fact” and that it is “entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In applying this standard, the court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Spaulding v. United Transp. Union, 279 F.3d 901, 904 (10th Cir.2002). A fact is “material” if, under the applicable substantive law, it is “essential to the proper disposition of the claim.” Wright ex rel. Trust Co. of Kansas v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc., 259 F.3d 1226, 1231-32 (10th Cir.2001) (citing Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670 (10th Cir.1998)). An issue of fact is “genuine” if “there is sufficient evidence on each side so that a rational trier of fact could resolve the issue either way.” Adler, 144 F.3d at 670 (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)).

The moving party initially must show the absence of a genuine issue of material fact and entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Spaulding, 279 F.3d at 904 (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). In attempting to meet this standard, a movant that does not bear the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial need not negate the other party’s claim; rather, the movant need simply point out to the court a lack of evidence for the other party on an essential element of that party’s claim. Adams v. American Guarantee & Liability Ins. Co., 233 F.3d 1242, 1246 (10th Cir.2000) (citing Adler, 144 F.3d at 671).

Once the movant has met this initial burden, the burden shifts to the nonmov-ing party to “set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Spaulding, 279 F.3d at 904 (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)); Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The nonmoving party may not simply rest upon its pleadings to satisfy its burden. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 256, 106 S.Ct. 2505; accord Eck v. Parke, Davis & Co., 256 F.3d 1013, 1017 (10th Cir.2001). Rather, the nonmoving party must “set forth specific facts that would be admissible in evidence in the event of trial from which a rational trier of fact could find for the nonmovant.” Mitchell v. City of Moore, Oklahoma, 218 F.3d 1190, 1197-98 (10th Cir.2000) (quoting Adler,

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Bluebook (online)
402 F. Supp. 2d 1285, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30491, 2005 WL 3244436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abilene-retail-v-board-of-comrs-of-dickinson-cy-ksd-2005.