Tennessee- The state of Tennessee wants him shut down, but the owner of a Maryville store that carries adult merchandise said he will file suit against the county after the Adult-Oriented Establishment Board decided two weeks ago to seek an injunction to shut down his business.

“Since day one, I have asked what I’ve had to do to be in compliance and not be labeled an adult store,” said David Anderson, owner of Sunshyne Video Two at 3531 U.S. 411 South. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go this route, but I have no choice to protect my interests.

“The bad thing is that there are two sides to every story, but I’m not going to get a fair shake here,” he added. “These meetings are predetermined. Even if I was a candy store, they’d want to shut me down.”

Any adult store in Blount County had 120 days from the establishment of the board in September to file for a permit or cease operating. Anderson told the board last month he did not file for a permit within the grace period because he had added enough general merchandise to his store to be exempt from the state’s Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act of 1998.

Assistant Chief Deputy Jimmy Long of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office told the board Friday that he had investigated Anderson’s store Feb. 1. Long said the business was divided by a wall, with general merchandise in the front of the store and adult merchandise in the back. Long estimated both parts of the store were the same size.

While the statute defines an adult business as one that offers adult merchandise as its “predominant stock or trade,” board member Jennifer Shaffer said that “trade” would mean what items Anderson is “selling the most of,” not how many items he offers. Anderson did not allow the sheriff’s office to look at his sales records, Long said.

“I don’t have to give them that information,” Anderson said after the meeting Friday. He argued the same point at the board meeting Jan. 24.

Anderson also pointed to a 2003 appellate court decision that declared a Knoxville code on adult businesses “unconstitutional and unenforceable” because of its vague language. Board members said nothing about the case, which Anderson said he provided to them earlier that day.

“You didn’t have to change your business,” Shaffer told Anderson. “All you had to do is file for a permit.”

Long said the sheriff’s office gave Anderson until Feb. 15 before citing him for continuing to operate the store without a permit. While the board does not have to take any action on the citation — that is between the sheriff’s office and the attorney general’s office, Chairman Keith McCord noted — board member Gerald Russell made a motion to seek an injunction to force Sunshyne Video Two to cease operation. The motion passed unanimously.

“We as a board are not the law, are not the courts,” McCord told Anderson. “We cannot decide whether you are right or wrong. We will let the court determine whether you are right or wrong based on the evidence.”

Norm Newton, attorney for County Mayor Beverley Woodruff, said he had not decided in which court he will file the lawsuit.

Anderson said after the meeting that he has covered the word “adult” on the sign outside his business and has removed from his door the sign forbidding anyone under 18. He has added signs advertising his nonadult products, he added, and has changed his classification on his business license to a market.

“No matter what I do, there is no way I can comply with the ruling because they change it every time,” Anderson said. “They say it’s based on their determination of what’s adult and what’s not adult, even though the evidence shows (my store) is not all adult anymore.”

A second adult store in Blount County also was cited Feb. 15 for operating without a permit. The difference is an owner of Pure Pleasure Video in Walland has applied for one.

Long said the sheriff’s office started its investigation of Don Wilson’s store after he filed for a permit Feb. 7. Long told board members that the store had been cooperative and that he had interviewed and fingerprinted all but one employee, but he did not think he could complete the investigation within the 20 days set forth in the statute.

The board unanimously granted Long a 30-day extension to finish the investigation.

In the meantime, both stores are still subject to citation for continuing to operate without permits. The citations issued Feb. 15 are set to be heard in Blount County General Sessions Court at 1:30 p.m. March 2, Long said.