Milwaukee- A temporary restraining order preventing the City of Milwaukee from closing Video Sophisticate, an adult video store at 9110 W. Brown Deer Road, has been granted.
The store has supporters and detractors. Some area businesses and neighbors have complained about the store while the owner, Tony Dodge, said his store is not responsible for the decline of the Brown Deer Road business district. Brown said he has 2,943 registered customers.
Dodge, of Hammond, La., claims in a lawsuit that the city’s actions violate his constitutional rights.
According to the lawsuit, the store opened and has had an occupancy permit since June 1995. Dodge said he was told by a building inspector a month later that he had no problem with the operation as long as Dodge kept it “clean.” Dodge said the business has been inspected many times and that he has a sign in the door banning minors from entering.
When Dodge applied for permission to replace a sign this summer, city building inspectors realized he did not have the proper occupancy permit because of an ordinance adopted in 2001, six years after the store opened.
A hearing on Dodge’s request for a permanent injunction that would prevent the city from closing the store will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 30 in Circuit Court.