MEMORANDUM ORDER
HH-Indianapolis (“HH”) has plans to open a retail store (“the Store”) at a location on the north side of Indianapolis it has leased for a ten-year " period (“the Premises”). Under the local zoning ordinance (“the Ordinance”), the Premises is not zoned for an’“adult entertainment business” as defined by the Ordinance. The Indianapolis Department of Business and Neighborhood Services (DBNS) determined that, based on its invéntory as well as its intentions, the Store would qualify as an adult entertainment business. HH appealed that determination to the Marion County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), which affirmed the DBNS.' No appeal of that decision was taken in Marión Superior Court.
HH brought this Section 1983 action against Indianapolis, the BZA, and the DBNS (collectively, “the City”) for violations of the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and state administrative law. HH seeks inter alia a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the Ordinance against HH. HH’s motion for a preliminary injunction is now before the Court. For the below reasons, the motion is denied.
Background
HH “is a retailer that intends to operate a retail establishment at the Premises to sell lingerie, gag-gifts, tiaras, sashes, marital aids,
The Ordinance establishes a category of “adult entertainment businesses.” Rev. Code of the Consol. City and Cnty. of Indianapolis and Marion' [hereinafter “Code”], ch. 807. The Ordinance defines several types of adult entertainment businesses, Code § 807-106, including, as relevant here, “adult bookstore[s],” id. § 807-103, and '“adult service establishments].” Id. § 807-112. An “adult bookstore” is an establishment having at least 25 percent of its retail floor space used for the display of, at least 25 percent of its inventory consisting of, or at least 25 percent of its weekly revenue derived from, “adult products.” Id. § 807-103. An “adult service establishment” is' an establishment “which provides a preponderance of services involving specified, sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas.” Id. § 807-112. ‘‘Adult products,” id. § 807-103, “specified sexual activities,” id. § 807-116, “specified anatomical areas,” id. § 807-115, and “services involving specified sexual activity or display of specified anatomical areas,” id. § 740-202, are all further defined in the Ordinance; “preponderance” is not.
The Ordinance also establishes different types of zoning districts, including C-3, C-4, C-5, and C-7 districts. “The C-3 District is for the development of an extensive range of retail sales and personal, professional and business services required to meet the demands of a fully developed residential neighborhood, regardless of its size.” Id. § 742-104(C). Adult entertainment businesses may not operate as of right in a C-3 district. Id. § 743-1. An adult entertainment business may operate in a- C-3 district after obtaining a use variance from the BZA, see R. at 244, and may operate as of right in a C-4, C-5, or C-7 district. Code § 743-1.
The Premises is located in a C-3 district.
In summer 2016, HH selected the Premises as the site for the Store. HH communicated with a city planner for the City, who confirmed to HH" the definition, of “adult bookstore” under the Ordinance. In July 2016, HH entered into a ten-year lease for the Premises. HH then applied .to DBNS for structural and sign permits in connection with the Premises. DBNS noted that the proposed signage advertised inter alia “erotica.” See R. at 254. DBNS suspected that HH intended to operate an adult entertainment business and requested information from HH about the Store. In response, HH submitted information including a floor plan and inventory and revenue projections (“the Initial Submission”). DBNS found the information in the Initial Submission to be “imprecise and contradictory!)]” R. at 247. DBNS denied the requested permits after determining that HH intended to use the Premises as an adult service establishment without holding a use variance.
Without first seeking a use variance, HH appealed the determination of the DBNS to the BZA. At a December 6,2016, hearing on that appeal, DBNS staff presented a report to-the BZA summarizing its grounds for determining the Store to be an adult service establishment or, in the alternative, an adult, bookstore. DBNS again emphasized the vagueness and Imprecision of the Initial Submission. Tr. 23. DBNS staff noted that, while HH reported an “adult [products] subtotal” of ca, 16 percent of inventory, and 24 percent of sales, R. at 256, the “toys” category
DBNS staff concluded that, even if the Premises would not be used as an adult bookstore on the basis of the figures in the Initial Submission, when viewed critically, it would be used as an adult service establishment. This was so because HH proposed both “[t]he sale or display” of media “characterized by an emphasis” on specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas in the form of adult literature and movies, and “[t]he presentation of’ media “characterized by an emphasis” o.n specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas in the form, of workshops, courses, and product demonstrations as conducted at other HH-Entertainment stores. R. at 248-49. This combination would render the Store. an adult service establishment under the Ordinance.
Remonstrators — community members, nearby property owners and tenants, and a city-county councillor — appeared by- counsel and submitted evidence. Counsel for remonstrators urged the same theory , as the DBNS: that HH intended to use the premises for an adult service establishment by offering adult media for sale and by offering courses, workshops, and product demonstrations. Remonstrators submitted photographs showing the high, and highly visible, volume of adult products at other HH-Entertainment stores, R. at 313-16, and the nature of the courses, workshops, and “live demo[nstration]s of our steamiest couples’ products.. .hosted at' all. [HH-Entertainment] retail' locations[.]” R. at 324; see, e.g., R. at 325-27. Remonstrators concluded that by “selling] and displaying]” adult media, “offering] classes to the public. . .utilizing]” adult media, and “offering] classes to the public. . .including] live demonstrations and performances...,” HH would operate an adult service establishment. R. at 330.
The city-county councillor present at the hearing accused HH-Entertainment of having “a track record of deception in trying to hide [its] true intentions when it seeks to establish” its retail stores, and asked the BZÁ to “use a healthy, you know, attitude of skepticism” in evaluating HH’s presentation. Tr. 19. The councillor reported that, when, HH-Entertainment attempted to open a store in Lexington, Kentucky, “the permits.. .applied for indicated they were building a coffee shop.” Tr. 20, The councillor further- agreed with the DBNS’s suggestion that the, Initial Submission was “deceptive] in the ways [HH] describefd] its products.” Id.
HH presented additional evidence on the Store at the BZA hearing, including revised inventory , and revenue projections (“the Later Submission”). HH claimed that the Initial Submission inaccurately relied on figures from HH-Entertainment stores nationwide and from HH-Entertainment’s on-line store. The Later Submission projected figures specific to the Store, R. at 23, but DBNS opined that the Later Submission was vitiated by a similar vagueness of categorization as beset the Initial Submission and appeared to contradict it. HH repeatedly disclaimed any intent to operate the Store as an adult service establishment or an adult bookstore. Specifically, HH insisted that, when it proposed to sell “marital aids,” it meant condoms, not sex toys, Tr. 5, and that it had no intention of offering courses, workshops, or product demonstrations at the Premises, as other HH-Entertainment stores do. Finally, HH invited the BZA to tour the Store once it was stocked and set up so that BZA members could see for themselves what sort of business HH proposed to operate.
At the conclusion of the December 6, 2016, hearing, the BZA voted unanimously (5-0) to affirm the DBNS’s determination that HH proposed to operate an adult entertainment business, which violated the zoning code for that location. Tr. 35. HH filed this lawsuit less than a month later on January 5, 2017, Dkt. 1, and an amended complaint on January 12, 2017. Dkt. 9. Its motion for a preliminary injunction was filed on June 2, 2017, Dkt. 33, on which this Court held a hearing on September 13, 2017. Dkt. 46.
Standard of Decision
“An equitable, interlocutory form of relief, a preliminary injunction is an exercise of a very far-reaching power, never to be indulged in except in a case clearly demanding it.” Girl Scouts of Manitou Council, Inc. v. Girls Scouts of the U.S.A., Inc.,
The analysis proceeds in two steps. Girl Scouts,
But if the movant passes the threshold, then a court must proceed to balance the harm to the movant unless the injunction issues against the harm to the nonmovant if it does. Id. The balance is struck on a sliding scale: the greater the movant’s likelihood of success, the less favorable the balance of harms need be; the lesser the movant’s likelihood of success, the more favorable the balance need be. Id. “Where appropriate,” the court must also weigh any burden or benefit to any third party, or the “public interest,” if or unless the injunction issues. Id.
Analysis
HH presses its challenge to the City’s determination under the Ordinance from a number of angles. Under the First Amendment, HH raises (I.A) an “as applied” challenge to the Ordinance as applied through the City’s determination that HH is an adult entertainment business, (I.B) a facial challenge to the definition of “adult service establishment” for vagueness, and (I.C) a facial challenge to the definition of “adult service establishment” for overbreadth. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, HH raises (II)- an equal protection claim. Finally, under Indiana administrative law, HH raises (III) a challenge to the City’s decision as arbitrary, .capricious, and unsupported by substantial evidence.
After careful review, we conclude that none of the Constitutional claims have a better than negligible chance of success on the merits; and the state-law claim does not allege irreparable injury. HH’s petition therefore fails to make it across the threshold of the preliminary injunction standard.
I. First Amendment Claims
The threshold question in any free-speech case is the existence of some protected speech or expression. See Green Valley Invests. v. Winnebago County,
“The loss of First Amendment freedoms is presumed to constitute an irreparable injury for which money damages are not adequate, and injunctions protecting First Amendment freedoms are always in the public interest.” Christ. Legal Soc’y,
A. “As Applied” Challenge
In brief, HH’s “as applied” claim comes down to this: HH told the City it did not propose to operate an adult entertainment business; the City did not believe HH; the City determined that HH did propose to operate an adult entertainment business; the City therefore, required HH to operate as of right in a C-4, C-5, or C-7 zoning district, rather than a C-3 district; HH claims the City’s determination was erroneous according to the state-law definition of “adult entertainment business.” These facts are unlikely to make out a constitutional violation. Accepting HH’s contrary position would constitution-alize every mine-run state-law commercial zoning dispute so long as the applicant proposed to sell books. This we decline to do.
The constitutionality of municipal land-use regulation-of sexually indecent expression is controlled by the Supreme Court’s decisions in Young v. American Mini Theaters, Inc.,
time, place or manner restrictions can be upheld as content-neutral restrictions on adult entertainment if they (1) are justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech; (2) are narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest in curbing adverse secondary effects; and (3) still leave open ample alternative channels for communication.
Schultz v. City of Cumberland,
While "the mere fact that the commercial exploitation of material protected by the First Amendment is subject to zoning and other licensing requirements is not a sufficient reason for invalidáting” such requirements as impermissible prior restraints on expression, Young,
“A zoning measure can be consistent with the First Amendment if it is likely .to cause a significant decrease in secondary effects and -a trivial decrease in the quantity of speech.” Alameda Books,
Where, for example, a city “has not prohibited the plaintiff from operating a burlesque theater,” but “has merely prohibited the operation of such a theater in proximity to a residential neighborhood[,]” and the city “is a large city” with “abundant convenient locations in which the operation of such a theater would not violate” the city’s zoning ordinance, “[i]n these circumstances,.. .the impairment of First Amendment values is slight to the point, of being risible,” since no expression is “suppressed but [is] merely shoved off to another part of town, where it remains easily accessible to anyone to wants to patronize that kind of establishment.” Blue Canary Corp. v. City of Milwaukee,
Here, HH’s first claim under'the First Amendment is styled an “as applied” challenge to the Ordinance, Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 12, but this is a mischaracterization, HH does not challenge the Ordinance at all. HH nowhere contests that, if the Store was in fact an adult entertainment business under the Ordinance, and the City was correct in so determining, then the City could regulate HH’s expression under the Ordinance as a valid' time, place, and manner restriction conformable to the First Amendment. Rather, HH’s claim is essentially that, by determining the Store to be an adult entertainment business, the City got the Ordinance wrong as a matter of state law, and so wrong that that the only, explanation for the error is censorial motive. Pl.’s Br. Supp., p.,11; Defs.’ Br. Opp., p. 11. The question presented by HH’s first claim is not, therefore, whether the , Ordinance abridged HH’s First Amendment rights, but whether the City’s erroneous application of the Ordinance abridged HH’s First Amendment rights.
It is unlikely to have done' so. “[T]he state must be tested by its operation and effect.” Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson,
As noted above, there would apparently be no objection from HH at all if HH were of the view that the City correctly determined HH’s proposed business to be an adult entertainment business. HH’s claim hinges entirely on its contention that the City erroneously determined the Store to be an adult entertainment business, motivated by its disapproval of HH’s speech and intending to suppress it. But HH has not persuaded us that mere subjective censorial intent on the part of final municipal decision-makers, asfeuming that was the case, can convert an otherwise constitutional regulation of expression into an unconstitutional one.
HH cites Surita v. Hyde,
In Surita, as relevant here, plaintiff was politically opposed to a municipal towing ordinance.
As to the first claim, the court found that application of the assembly ordinance to plaintiff impermissibly “impose[d] financial burdens on [a] speaker[ ] based on the content of [her] speech” by “varyfing] the fee according to the estimated cost of maintaining public order.” Id. at 876-77. That effect was impermissible no matter whether correct as a matter of state law and no matter the police chiefs subjective intent. See id. As to the second and third claims, the court noted that “[retaliation claims and chilling claims are related in that the Constitution protects citizens from penalties that follow protected speech (retaliation) and threats .of penalties for future protected speech (chilling).” Id. at 877. Such claims lie because it is impermissible to take or threaten any act, no matter whether authorized by state law, solely to punish a speaker for her protected speech. See id.
Though HH does not style it as such, HH’s “as applied” claim might be better thought of as a chilling claim. So too might one of the cases on which it heavily relies, E-Bru, Inc. v. Graves,
In sum, if there has been any cognizable infringement of HH’s First Amendment interests here, the infringement was “slight....” Blue Canary Corp.,
Though justified as content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions aimed at the secondary effects of protected expression, not at suppressing the expression itself, Renton,
First, “a scheme that places ‘unbridled discretion in the hands of a government official or agency constitutes a prior restraint and may result in censorship.’” FW/PBS,
Second, “there must be the possibility of prompt judicial review in the event that the license is erroneously denied.” FW/PBS,
Here, therefore, if HH is correct that the City’s determination that'HH proposed to' operate an adult entertainment business was so lacking in state-law justification that it can be explained only as an “illegitimate abuse of'censorial power[,]” Lakewood,
HH advances three arguments in support of its position, but none are persuasive. First, HH argues that the City im-permissibly considered the conduct of other retail stores under the HH-Entertainment umbrella. Pl.’s Br. Supp;, p. 13; Pl.’s Reply Br., pp. 2-5. Whether such evidence was relevant, see Pl.’s Reply Br., p. 4 (citing cases applying Federal Rules of Evidence), is a matter of Indiana evidentiary law. HH points to no rule of constitutional law barring the. City from considering whether other- HH-Entertainment stores would be adult entertainment businesses under the Ordinance in,determining whether HH would operate the Store as an adult entertainment business.
HH’s second,.-and third, arguments cast the Ordinance as a prior, restraint, to the extent that the City “can be viewed as banning [HH’s] future speech based- on past conduct,” Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 14, that “a municipal . government cannot ban speech on the possibility that it might be obscene.” Id. (original emphasis). These arguments miss the mark. It is inarguable that zoning, licensing, and permitting schemes, alone or in combination, may operate as impermissible prior restraints in particular cases. Green Valley,
HH points to features common to all or most zoning schemes: the zoning determination1 is made before activity at the site commences. See id. (“It is true...that adult films may only be exhibited commercially.in licensed-theaters. But that is also true of all motion pictures.... The mere fact that the commercial exploitation of material protected by the First Amendment is subject to zoning and other licensing requirements is not a sufficient reason for invalidating these ordinances.”). One need not allow a pig to foul the parlor before determining it belongs in the barnyard. See Alameda Books,
HH’s arguments in the end come down to a conviction that the City was required to believe HH when it assured the City that it did not intend to operate an adult entertainment business. This is simply not so. The BZA sits to hear and weigh evidence, particularly the credibility of witnesses. See, e.g., Burcham v. Bd. of Zoning Appeals,
B. Facial Challenge for Vagueness
HH challenges the Ordinance’s definition of “adult service establishment” as unconstitutionally vague. Specifically, as defined by the Ordinance, an adult service establishment is “any building, premises, structure or other facility, or any part thereof, under common ownership or control which provides a preponderance of services involving specified sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas.” Code § 807-112 (emphasis added). HH contends that “preponderance” is unconstitutionally vague. This is unlikely to be correct.
[T]he void-for-vagueness doctrine protects against the ills of a law that “fails to provide a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice of what is prohibited, or is so standardless that it authorizes or encourages seriously discriminatory enforcement.” The “vagueness doctrine addresses at least two connected but discrete due process concerns: first, that regulated parties should know what is required of them so they may act accordingly; second, precision and guidance are necessary so that those enforcing the law do not act in an arbitrary or discriminatory way.” In cases where the “statute abuts upon sensitive areas of basic First Amendment freedoms,” “rigorous adherence to those requirements is necessary to ensure that ambiguity does not chill protected speech.” Even under the heightened standard for the First Amendment, though, the potential chilling effect on protected expression must be both “real and substantial” to invalidate a statute as void for vagueness in a facial challenge.
Ctr. for Individ. Freedom v. Madigan,
A person of ordinary intelligence would not have difficulty understanding what conduct comes within the Ordinance. Indeed, the Ordinance does not even establish “an imprecise but comprehensible normative standard,” id. (emphasis added), but rather a concrete physical standard. “Preponderance” means “1. a superiority in weight”; “2. a superiority in power, influence, importance, or strength”; “3a, a superiority or excess in number or quantity”; or “[3]b. majority[.]” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1791 (1993) (emphasis added). An ordinary reasonable person would understand that a “prepon-derancé” of a thing means a “majority” of that thing or more of that thing than any other thing.
Specifically, the Ordinance gives fair notice to a person of ordinary intelligence that an adult services establishment offers more services involving specified sexual activities and specified anatomical areas than services not so defined. Whether the City was correct in determining that the Store would feature a preponderance of covered services is arguable, but arguable as a matter of the sufficiency of the evidence before a tribunal sitting to review state agency actions, not as a matter of constitutional law.
C. Facial Challenges for Ovérbreadth
HH also challenges the Ordinance’s definition of “adult services establishment” as overbroad.
The overbreadth doctrine prevents the government from casting a net so wide that its regulation impermissibly burdens speech. To avoid chilling the speech of third parties who may be unwilling or unlikely to raise a challenge in their own stead, the overbreadth doctrine in certain circumstances permits litigants already before the court to challenge a regulation on its face and raise the rights of third parties whose protected expression is prohibited or substantially burdened by the regulation. A - facial overbreadth challenge is successful when it establishes “a realistic danger that the statute itself will significantly compromise recognized First Amendment protections of parties not before the Court.” The Supreme Court has cautioned that overbreadth is “manifestly, strong medicine,” and has invalidated regulations only when a limiting, construction is not.readily available and the unconstitutional, applications of the regulation are real and substantial in relation to the regulation’s plainly, legitimate sweep.
Schultz,
HH contends that the definition of “adult services establishment” is substantially overbroad in that “[a]ny establishment that sells a ‘preponderance’ of ‘printed matter, other forms of visual or audio representation, slides or similar photographic reproductions’ that are ‘characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons’ would be ensnared as an ‘Adult Service[s] Establishment.’” Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 21 (original alterations and ellipses omitted) (quoting Code § 740-202(1) and (2)). HH then hy-pothecates a parade of third parties whose expression, HH contends, would fall outside the Ordinance’s plainly legitimate sweep but would nevertheless come within its terms:
[A] retail establishment dedicated to the promotion of breastfeeding,' which displays written material depicting female breasts and sells t-shirts depicting female breasts alongside] slogans like ‘eat local’; an artist’s studio with a focus on phallic or vaginal art; a baker who creates and sells specialty cakes for events like bachelor and bachelorette parties; a newspaper that covers every[day] news, but includes advertisements at the back of each edition- for phone sex hotlines; and a t-shirt distributor that displays and sells t-shirts depicting human anatomy in addition to other topics.
Id. at 21-22.
The problem with this argument is that it rests’ on a misunderstanding of the definition it challenges. An adult services establishment “provides a preponderance of services involving specified sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas.” Code § 807-112. “Servicbs involving specified sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas” is defined as “[a]ny combination of two or more of the following [listed] activities[.]” Id. § 740-202 (emphasis added). One such activity is “the sale or display” of audio, video, or print “characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas[.]” Id. § 740-202(1). Another is the “presentation.. .for observation by patrons” of visual matter “distinguished’ or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas[.]” Id. § 740-202(2).
Even assuming, generously, that the hypothetical third-party activities constitute a preponderance of the services offered by the third parties (e.g., that the baker sells a preponderance of specialty cakes), and assuming further that the hypothetical third-party activities each constitute a covered activity under the Ordinance,- still none of the hypothetical third parties would come within the definition of “adult services establishments” by participating in only one covered activity, rather than a “combination of two or more” covered activities as required by the definition, Id. § 740-202.
The Ordinance is therefore unlikely to be substantially overbroad on the grounds advaneed by HH.
II. Equal Protection
HH challenges the City’s determination as violative of the Equal Protection Clause and its protection against intentional invidious discriminatory treatment. See Washington v. Davis,
HH does not allege itself to be a member of a protected class. It argues rather that, where a classification burdens fundamental rights, the classification receives strict scrutiny. Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 22. This is correct as a general proposition, FCC v. Beach Commc’ns,
HH essentially advances a class of one claim: that it alone was treated differently from similarly situated comparators, i.e., other “general merchandise retailers.” Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 23; see Village of Willowbrook v. Olech,
HH, proposes Spencer Gifts and Victoria’s Secret as “general merchandise retailer” comparators, Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 23, but, as the City points out, the Spencer Gifts and Victoria’s Secret in area near the Premises are located in a.C-4, not a C-3, zoning district. Defs.’ Br. Opp., p. 14. Thus HH’s comparators have not been treated differently in this geographic respect To the extent that HH complains that those retailers, while selling the same product mix and engaged in the same line of business as HH, have not been classified as adult entertainment businesses, HH clearly cannot contend that the City discriminates against retailers offering-that same product mix,- and HH again simply complains that the City’s determination was erroneous.
A plaintiff operating in a restricted universe of potential comparators may dispense with the need for comparators by bootstrapping a campaign of arbitrary and irrational treatment into its own evidence of discriminatory intent, see Brunson,
Finally, HH cannot show constitutionally arbitrary or irrational treatment. There must be “no rational basis” for the difference in treatment. Olech,
Absent similarly situated comparators and arbitrary or irrational treatment, it is unlikely HH will succeed on the merits of its equal protection claim.
III. Arbitrary, Capricious, and Unsupported by Substantial Evidence
Finally, HH claims that the City’s determination was reversibly erroneous as arbitrary, capricious, and- unsupported by substantial evidence under Indiana’s Administrative Orders and Procedures Act. Ind. Code § 4-21.5-5-14; Breitweiser v. Ind. Office of Envtl. Adjud.,
On these grounds, however, HH has not alleged any irreparable injury. It correctly notes the strong presumption of legal remedial inadequacy for the loss of First Amendment rights, Pl.’s Br. Supp., p. 28, but has not undertaken any showing that, absent a constitutional violation, the harm occasioned by the City’s arbitrary, capricious, or unsupported administrative decision is not compensable by money damages. We must therefore deny HH’s motion on these grounds.
Conclusion
None of HH’s constitutional claims have a better than negligible chance of success on the merits, and the state-law .claim does not allege irreparable injury..For these reasons, as explained more fully, above, HH’s motion for a preliminary injunction is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED:
Notes
. The meaning of “marital aids” in this context is much disputed. See infra.
. lío matter the zoning district, adult entertainment businesses are not permitted to operate as of right within 500 feet of a dwelling district, and DBNS staff reported that the Premises is approximately 355 feet to the north of the nearest dwelling district. BZA Hr'g Tr. (Dkt. Í2) 22. Thus, even if the Premises were located in a C-4 district, a use variance would still be required to operate an adult entertainment business there. Id.
. An "adult toys” category was separately re- ' ported, R. at 256, leaving DBNS and remon-strators to speculate as to what "toys” HH -proposed to sell that were not “adult." As counsel for remonstrators argued, "This is not a Toys ‘ 'R' Us. They don’t sell scooters, they don't sell.. .skateboards, basketballs or baseballs.” Tr. 30. Counsel compared the ca. 30% figure for “toys” in the Initial Submission unfavorably to the ca. 6% figure for. "games/party/toys” in the Later Submission. Id.; R. at 23 (Later Submission).
. "Live performances by topless... dancers. . .or similar entertainers” may also give rise to an adult service establishment in combination with another covered service, Code § 740-202(4), but the DBNS .apparently did not so categorize the live demonstrations conducted at other HH- Entertainment stores. Remonstrators did' rely On this subsection in their .presentation, however. R. at 323.
. "Alameda Books was decided by a plurality plus Justice- Kennedy; [the Seventh Circuit has] treated Justice Kennedy's concurrence, the narrower opinion, as the holding of the case." BBL, Inc. v. City of Angola,
. HH’s ten-year lease for the Premises no doubt makes relocating financially undesirable, but HH’s finances are not an object of the First Amendment's solicitude. Renton,
. In E-Bru, the correctness of the application to plaintiff of a zoning ordinance requiring a certain number of off-street parking spaces was unchallenged; "the only issue” was whether the ordinance, never before enforced against any business in the zoning district, had been selectively applied against plaintiff to suppress its protected expression.
. HH points several times to the statement of a “city official” that, "even though legally the store is not violating any code,” the Store should be prohibited at the Premises because it "is not the kind of business we want.” See, e.g., Pl.’s Am. Compl. ¶ 61. HH's cited source for this statement reveals that it is a conflation of two different statements, one of Jonathan Eriksen, director of the Greater Allison-ville Community Council ("This is not the kind of business we want added to the list of new residents in the area.”), and one of City-County Councillor Christine Scales ("Technically they're going to meet the codes to put their business here, but at what point does a community have a voice in saying: 'No, we live here, we shop here, we work here,- we invest here and we don't want this here.’ ”), RTV6, Uproar Over Adult Store Opening Next to Chuck E. Cheese in Castleton, WIBC (Sept. 8, 2016), http://www.wibc.com/news/local-news/uproar-over-adult-store-opening-next-chhck-e-cheese-castleton (last visited Sept. 11, 2017). It is true that the administrative record discloses intense community opposition to HH operating at the Premises, frequently in content-based terms, see R. at 49-243, but HH has mustered no evidence to show that similar considerations affected the judgment of the DBNS or BZA. -
. HH relies on two idiosyncratic district court cases which, in our view, run directly counter to this admonition. Lovers Lane & Co. v. Village of Libertyville,
With due regard for the courts' decisions in those cases, we decline to follow them-. Their inquiries have not been sanctioned by any court of appeals, and run contrary to -the Seventh Circuit’s admonition to federal courts not to sit as boards of zoning appeal. Indeed, Santa Fe expressly applied an appellate standard of review to the decision of a body over which it did not sit in judgment.
. HH cites Fernandes v. Limmer,
HH next cites Robb v. Hungerbeeler,
