[www.ajc.com]- In a blow to the city of Johns Creek, a Fulton County Superior Court judge on Friday ruled the city improperly denied a sign to the owner of an adult video store.

The ruling, released Monday, opens the door for the owner, John Cornetta,[pictured] to seek $1.7 million he claims he lost in revenue from not having a sign for the Love Shack.

“It’s like Best Buy,” said Cornetta’s lawyer, Cary Wiggins in an earlier interview. “Without the yellow sign, it’s just another big box. You need a sign to tell people where you are and that you’re open for business.”

Cornetta said the city’s unwillingness to give him a sign ran him out of business. The Love Shack in Johns Creek closed in October, almost two years after it opened.

City officials said they had not seen the ruling and could not offer immediate comment early Monday afternoon.

In written denial to Cornetta on Aug. 3, 2007, the city said he couldn’t have a sign because he didn’t have a business license. But Judge Ural Glanville’s written ruling observed that city regulations don’t require an applicant to have a business license in order to have a sign.

The city then tried to argue that the Love Shack wasn’t in compliance with the zoning code, that it was operating illegally, and that it violated other provisions of the sign ordinance. Wiggins basically complained that the city was making up new excuses for refusing the sign.

Glanville agreed, saying that other arguments by the city don’t count because they weren’t spelled out in the ordinance either, nor were they mentioned in the rejection letter sent to Cornetta.

The 10,000-square-foot store was located at State Bridge and Jones Bridge roads in the heart of the city, and has the been subject of much controversy in the new city.