After local residents complained that an adult bookstore was located too close to residential homes, the town drafted a law that designated a zone in which adult businesses could legally operate.
When Route 20 News and Video was given two years to move and it did not, resulting in a citation from a building inspector, the store’s owner William Muratone, requested a hearing at which the decision to conduct the study was made.
“What, if any, steps will be taken about moving or shutting down Route 20 News and Video will depend on the study,” Liccardi said. “The town may consider other locations for adult businesses.”
According to a report in The Independent (N.Y.), Liccardi said East Greenbush has been keeping a watchful eye over the area around the store to monitor any increases in crime.
“There have been no complaints and no arrests,” Liccardi told The Independent. “There has been no loitering, assaults or prostitution, disorderly conduct, burglaries, or anything that we know of. I think such things happen more in bigger cities where there are more of this type of operation.”
Liccardi said the problem with implementing the original zoning law was that this type of study had not been completed.
Robert Penna, an Albany, N.Y.-based consultant on adult businesses is evaluating the current law and its effects, and has the power and authority to make recommendations to the town board. Based on the study’s findings, the town can rewrite or amend the law.
At a hearing in front of the town board in March, attorneys for C&W Stores said the town’s zoning law violates their client’s civil rights. They added that the zoning law effectively puts adult bookstores out of business by regulating them to the outermost edge of town, and that the definition of an adult bookstore is vague because the city failed to properly amend the zoning code in the Comprehensive Zoning Law and in state laws.
On C&W’s business application, it made no mention of selling adult products. When residents and town officials found out, it passed the local zoning law that states adult stores cannot operate near residences, schools, day-care facilities or places of worship.
If, after the study, the store is found to still be in violation of the town code, it will be issued a summons to appear in court and there will likely be a trial. If it is found not to be in violation, it will remain open.
“During the course of the hearing it was determined there is an expanding area of case law in regards to adult businesses,” Liccardi said. “A municipality cannot shut down a business on its content because that is a violation of the first amendment. A municipality can, however, based on adverse secondary impacts of such a business, put them in areas where there wouldn’t be such a large impact. That’s where the study comes in.”
