North Carolina- Pitt County's four strip clubs must immediately shut down, a Superior Court judge ruled last week.
Superior Court Judge Wilton "Rusty" Duke Jr. issued the court order two weeks after hearing final arguments in a case brought by the county against the clubs.
At least one of the clubs is planning to appeal the decision and ask to be allowed to continue to operate until the higher court decides on the case.
"Obviously, the decision is not what we'd hoped for, but we knew this was a strong possibility, and we are prepared to take this to appeal," David Silver, attorney for Misty's, said. The club owners and Les Robinson, the attorney that represented three of the clubs, could not be reached Wednesday.
The county filed suit against the clubs in January after none of them came into compliance with a year-old county ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses, including their locations. The club owners contended the ordinance, which county commissioners passed in October 2002 and amended in February 2004, is unconstitutional.
Duke sided with the county in his decision, upholding the ordinance as valid with the exception of striking down a provision calling for a $1,000 license application fee for sexually oriented businesses.
"(The ordinance), which on its face attempts to preserve the health and safety of the county's citizens by guarding against the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses, appears to regulate an area in which the county has a substantial government interest," Duke wrote.
The ordinance prohibits adult businesses from being within a quarter mile of homes, churches, playgrounds and public recreation areas. Existing businesses, including three of the clubs, had a year to come into compliance and be issued a sexually oriented business license by the county.
Only one of the clubs, Misty's, applied for the license. The club was denied. Misty's, as well as Deja Vue on Whichard-Cherry Lane, Silver Bullet Dolls on U.S. 13 and Club Vegas on Whichard Road, all violate the ordinance's location requirement.
The secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses are the reason the ordinance was enacted, Janis Gallagher, assistant county attorney said. The county relied on studies from other jurisdictions showing adverse effects, a state general statute saying local government regulation is reasonable due to such effects and information from other areas.
While defense attorneys noted property values had risen, not decreased, around two of the local clubs - and the police calls were no different than calls at any bar or club - they did not adequately contradict all of the county's points, Duke wrote in his decision.
He also ruled the club owners' complaint that requiring them to move would cause a hardship because they would likely be forced to build a new facility was not sufficient to make the ordinance unconstitutional.
"In leaving nearly 19 percent of the county's land available for use by sexually oriented businesses, the ordinance at issue certainly provides defendants with the ability to open and operate such businesses," Duke wrote. "Merely because the state of the land may make it more expensive to do so does not necessitate a finding that the ordinance denies defendants this ability."
Duke did agree with the clubs that the county did not put on evidence to show the $1,000 application fee is directly related to the cost of administering the program. In his decision, Duke struck the fee requirement from the ordinance, while upholding the rest of the ordinance.
It will be up to county commissioners to decide if they want to amend the ordinance to add a new fee, Gallagher said.
"We are pleased that Judge Duke has found the ordinance to be valid. The decision will protect the citizens who have been requesting the sheriff do something about the negative affects of these businesses close to their homes," she said.
Gallagher said she would oppose any stay that would allow the clubs to continue to operate pending a decision from the state court of appeals.
