Rosenblatt, Bernard as Applicant for AVW, Inc. D/B/A Adult Video Megaplexxx v. City of Houston

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 19, 2000
Docket13-99-00692-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Rosenblatt, Bernard as Applicant for AVW, Inc. D/B/A Adult Video Megaplexxx v. City of Houston (Rosenblatt, Bernard as Applicant for AVW, Inc. D/B/A Adult Video Megaplexxx v. City of Houston) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Rosenblatt, Bernard as Applicant for AVW, Inc. D/B/A Adult Video Megaplexxx v. City of Houston, (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion



NUMBER 13-99-692-CV


COURT OF APPEALS


THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS


CORPUS CHRISTI

___________________________________________________________________

BERNARD ROSENBLATT, AS APPLICANT

FOR AVW, INC., D/B/A ADULT VIDEO

MEGAPLEXXX

, Appellant,

v.


CITY OF HOUSTON

, Appellee.

___________________________________________________________________

On appeal from the 189th District Court
of Harris County, Texas.

____________________________________________________________________

O P I N I O N


Before Justices Hinojosa, Yañez, and Rodriguez
Opinion by Justice Rodriguez

Bernard Rosenblatt, as applicant for AVW, Inc. d/b/a Adult Video Megaplexxx, appellant, appeals from the granting of a motion for summary judgment. Appellant challenges the summary judgment by seven issues. We affirm.

Adult Video Megaplexxx (Megaplexxx) is an adult bookstore located in Houston, Texas. It contains adult video arcades(1) where customers can enter booths to watch sexually explicit videos. In 1997, the City of Houston (the City) enacted Ordinance 97-75, which amended chapter 28 of its municipal code, having to do with sexually oriented businesses. Section 28-10, which is found in division 3 governing adult arcade and adult mini-theatre design, provides as follows:

(a) If an adult arcade or adult mini-theatre has one (1) manager's station designated pursuant to section 28-92(c) of this Code, then the interior of the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre shall be configured in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view of every area of the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose from that manager's station. If an adult arcade or adult mini-theatre has two (2) or more manager's stations designated pursuant to section 28-92(c) of this Code, then the interior of the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre shall be configured in such a manner that there is an unobstructed view of each area of the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre to which any patron is permitted access for any purpose from at least one (1) of the manager's stations. The view required in this subsection must be by direct line of sight from the manager's station.

(b) It shall be the duty of the owners and operator, and it shall also be the duty of any agents and employees present in an adult arcade or adult mini-theatre, to ensure that the view area specified in subsection (a) remains unobstructed by any merchandise, display racks or other materials at all times that any patron is present in the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre and to ensure that no patron is permitted access to any area of the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre which has been designated as an area in which patrons will not be permitted in the plan filed pursuant to section 28-92 of this Code.

Houston, Tex., Municipal Code, Ord. 97-75, § 28-101(a) (emphasis added).

According to an affidavit of John Bratton, president of AVW, Inc., video cameras were installed in the arcade booths at Megaplexxx to comply with the "direct line of sight" provision of Ordinance 97-75. Bratton affied that "[t]he cameras in the arcades transmit a picture of the inside of the arcade to a monitor located in the manager's station. The video coverage is live, and simultaneously transmits a picture of the inside of each and every arcade, as well as the hallways." According to Bratton, "[p]atrons are advised in writing that their activities are being monitored by a video camera, and that Adult Video Megaplexxx does not permit lewd conduct of any kind."

According to an officer of the Houston Police Department, Vice Division, during an inspection of Megaplexxx, he observed there is not an unobstructed view of every area to which a patron is permitted access. He also observed there was not a direct line of sight from the manager's station and that the arcades have doors. Appellant does not contest that, without the use of video surveillance, there is no direct, unobstructed view from the manager's station to each area of the adult arcade or adult mini-theatre to which any patron is permitted access.

Appellant applied for an adult arcade/adult mini-theater permit with the City. The City denied the application by written letter on July 15, 1998. According to the letter, the City denied the permit because (1) "[the] adult arcade is in violation of Section 28-93(b)(1)(2) of the Adult Arcade/Adult Mini-Theater Ordinance having to do with the view design, and lighting requirements[,]" and (2) "the application . . . submitted is in violation of Section 28-92(c)."(3)

Appellant pursued an appeal as authorized by the ordinance. A hearing was held on the appeal on August 19, 1998, and the hearing officer(4) concluded by stating, "I'm going to hold that the denial of the permit was improper and then maybe [City] Council can straighten this out." On August 24, 1998, the City moved for the hearing officer to reconsider and uphold the denial of the permit. Appellant responded to the motion for reconsideration on August 26, 1998. On September 22, 1998, the hearing officer reversed his prior ruling and signed a decision affirming the denial of the permit. The decision states that the denial of the permit "was based upon violations of Section 28-101(a); Adult Video Megaplexxx Arcade's internal configuration does not permit an unobstructed view from the manager's station by direct line of sight of every area of the adult arcade to which patrons are permitted access." Thereafter, appellant appealed the hearing officer's decision to a district court in Harris County. Both parties moved for summary judgment. The court granted the City's motion for summary judgment without specifying the grounds on which it was rendered. This appeal ensued.

The proper inquiry on appeal is whether the defendant, in seeking summary judgment, fulfilled his initial burden (1) to establish as a matter of law that there remained no genuine issue of material fact as to one or more essential elements of the plaintiff's cause of action or (2) to establish his affirmative defense to the plaintiff's cause of action as a matter of law. Casso v. Brand, 776 S.W.2d 551, 556 (Tex.1989); Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985); Pena v. State Farm Lloyds, 980 S.W.2d 949, 953 (Tex. App.--Corpus Christi 1998, no pet.). In deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant must be taken as true. Nixon, 690 S.W.2d at 549. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in his favor. Id. In this case, the trial court granted summary judgment for the City; hence, we view all evidence favorable to appellant, the non-movant, as true and indulge every inference in its favor.

When there are multiple grounds for summary judgment and the order does not specify the ground on which the summary judgment was rendered, appellant must negate all grounds on appeal. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. S. S

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Rosenblatt, Bernard as Applicant for AVW, Inc. D/B/A Adult Video Megaplexxx v. City of Houston, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rosenblatt-bernard-as-applicant-for-avw-inc-dba-ad-texapp-2000.