Uniontown Retail 36, LLC v. Board of Commissioners

950 N.E.2d 332, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 996, 2011 WL 2200677
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 7, 2011
Docket36A01-1008-MI-434
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 950 N.E.2d 332 (Uniontown Retail 36, LLC v. Board of Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Uniontown Retail 36, LLC v. Board of Commissioners, 950 N.E.2d 332, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 996, 2011 WL 2200677 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

DARDEN, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Uniontown Retail 36, LLC, d/b/a The Lion’s Den # 36, (“Lion’s Den”) appeals the trial court order granting the motion for summary judgment filed by the Board of Commissioners of Jackson County (“the Board”) and permanently enjoining Lion’s Den from operating a sexually oriented business at its current location in Jackson County.

We affirm. 1

ISSUES

1. Whether the trial court erred when it concluded that two ordinances were not improperly adopted zoning laws.
2. Whether the trial court erred in concluding that operation of a sexually oriented business by Lion’s Den was not grandfathered as a nonconforming use.
3. Whether the trial court’s summary judgment order must be reversed because there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the ordinances were narrowly tailored to further a substantial governmental interest.
4. Whether the trial court erred in its determination that the ordinances are not constitutionally overbroad.
5. Whether the trial court erred when it concluded that the counterclaim by Lion’s Den must fail.

FACTS

In early 2005, land at the southwest corner of the intersection of highways 1-65 and State Road 250 in an unincorporated area was developed — with a building, driveway, and signage for “a tenant” constructed as authorized by permits from Jackson County. (Lion’s Den App. 91).

On August 16, 2005, the Board adopted Ordinance 2005-5, titled “Sexually Oriented Business Ordinance.” (Lion’s Den App. 28). The 26-page ordinance stated its first purpose as being

to regulate sexually oriented businesses in order to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of Jackson County, and to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent the deleterious secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses within unincorporated areas of Jackson County.

Id. at 29. Additional purposes were also stated. Next, the ordinance contained the following findings:

(1) Sexually oriented businesses, as defined herein, should be regulated.
(2) Sexually oriented businesses should be segregated from one another and from religious institutions, school, parks, residences and residential neighborhoods to protect the public health, welfare and safety because sexually oriented businesses, as a category of commercial uses, are associated with a wide variety of adverse secondary effects, including but not limited to, personal and property crimes, prostitution, potential spread of disease, lewdness, public indecency, illicit drug use, drug trafficking, illicit and unsanitary sexual activity, negative impacts on property values, *335 blight, litter, and sexual assault and exploitation.
(3) Each of the foregoing negative secondary effects constitutes a harm which Jackson County has a substantial governmental interest in abating and/or preventing in the future.

Id. at 30.

The operative effect of the ordinance was to prohibit a sexually oriented business from operating within 1,000 feet of a residence 2 and to require the sexually oriented business to obtain a license. The ordinance was effective upon adoption, August 16, 2005, except for the provision establishing a fíne for violation of the ordinance — which would not become effective until September 1, 2005, after publication of the ordinance in two successive weekly editions of the local newspaper.

On August 19, 2005, on the improved property at the intersection of 1-65 and State Road 250, Lion’s Den opened as an adult bookstore and sexual device shop. Lion’s Den was within 1,000 feet of a residence, and it had obtained no license to operate a sexually oriented business.

That same day, August 19, 2005, the Board filed a complaint for a preliminary and permanent injunction of the “sexually oriented business” operated by Lion’s Den. (Bd.App.7).

On August 30, 2005, the Board adopted Ordinance 2005-6, which amended the sexually oriented business ordinance with additional licensing and other provisions. Ordinance 2005-6 again stated its purpose as quoted above; and to support its previous findings, cited to numerous court cases and “reports concerning secondary effects occurring in and around sexually oriented businesses” in seventeen U.S. cities. (Lion’s Den App. 58). Ordinance 2005-6 included a provision for a one-year amortization period to allow an improperly located sexually oriented business that was “existing and operating lawfully in all respects prior to August 15, 2005” to recoup its investment at its current location before relocating to a lawful site. Id. at 67. Ordinance 2005-6 also required that “[a] sexually oriented business existing and operating lawfully in all respects prior to August 15, 2005” apply for the necessary licensing within thirty days of August 30, 2005. Id. at 68.

On September 1, 2005, the Board filed an amended complaint for permanent injunction, based upon Ordinance 2005-6. On September 26, 2005, Lion’s Den filed its answer and counterclaim. 3 The counter claim alleged that both ordinances, 2005-5 and 2005-6, were unconstitutional, and sought declaratory relief and compensatory damages.

On January 3, 2006, the Board adopted Ordinance 2005-9, which amended the county zoning ordinance by adding a new chapter relating to “sexually oriented businesses.” (Lion’s Den App. 79). Ordinance 2005-9 specified that a sexually oriented business was “a permitted use” in “General Business,” “Industrial” and “Agriculture” Districts. Id. at 85. Thus, unlike Ordinances 2005-5 and 2005-6, Ordinance 2005-9 specified where a sexually oriented business could be located. Nevertheless, Ordinance 2005-9 also barred a sexually oriented business from being located “within 1,000 feet of ... any residence ....” Id. at 85.

*336 On November 18, 2008, the Board filed its verified complaint for declaratory judgment and permanent injunction. The Board asserted that Lion’s Den was in violation of the three ordinances by operating a sexually oriented business without a license to do so and within 1,000 feet of a residence. 4

On February 8, 2010, the Board filed its motion for summary judgment. It asserted that because Lion’s Den had never applied for or obtained the license required, and continued to operate a sexually oriented business within 1,000 feet of a residence in violation of its validly enacted county ordinances, the Board was “entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” (Bd.App. 119). 5

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Bluebook (online)
950 N.E.2d 332, 2011 Ind. App. LEXIS 996, 2011 WL 2200677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/uniontown-retail-36-llc-v-board-of-commissioners-indctapp-2011.