The adult industry had better open its eyes to take note that a reign of terror is going on in George Bush’s home state of Texas. Now we have another casualty.
Dallas–Score one for the city in its long-running legal battle with Planet X, the adult video store near Kingsley and Jupiter roads.
Store owner Bruce Kahn has agreed to do away with private viewing booths, a feature that City Attorney Charles Hinton had called “the most egregious problem” at the store because of the clientele that he said the rooms attracted.
On Friday, a handwritten sign announced that the rooms were closed.
“It’s been a ghost town around there all week. It’s been wonderful,” said Darren Luna, owner of Garland Grill, who has been outspoken about sharing a building with Mr. Kahn. “I know I’ve lost business because of Planet X.”
Mr. Kahn did not return calls Friday.
Assistant City Attorney Brad Neighbor said Mr. Kahn agreed to dismantle the viewing rooms after being told in writing to comply with the city’s new sexually oriented businesses ordinance.
“The dispute was always the viewing rooms,” Mr. Neighbor said.
Mr. Neighbor said Mr. Kahn was looking for a space outside Garland where he could move the viewing equipment. In the meantime, he will disable the equipment at Planet X and padlock the viewing room doors.
“We haven’t issued him a permit and we won’t until the viewing equipment is off-site,” Mr. Neighbor said.
Mr. Luna predicted that Planet X would lose most of its customers without the viewing rooms.
“It’s a big weight off my mind,” he said. “Not to say I’m happy about him being there, but the biggest problem was the rooms.”
City officials and neighbors objected when Planet X opened in August 2003.
The store offered adult merchandise only, which made it a sexually oriented business by the city’s definition, a use that was prohibited under the ordinance in effect at the time.
Previous adult video stores avoided that designation by offering a mix of merchandise in which adult material comprised less than 50 percent.
Mr. Kahn went to federal court and got a restraining order when city authorities refused him a certificate of occupancy and threatened to terminate the store’s utilities. He was denied a permanent injunction after the City Council approved a new ordinance that regulated, rather than banned, sexually oriented businesses.
The new ordinance requires that all areas of the store be visible from the manager’s station and holds the manager responsible for preventing any criminal conduct.