Dallas- Planet X remains open after 10 months of legal wrangling with the city, even though its application for a permit under the city’s new sexually oriented business ordinance was denied.
Building official Mike Gaiter confirmed this week that Planet X is appealing the denial.
In the meantime, the adult video store at Kingsley and Jupiter roads continues to offer private viewing rooms as well as sales and rentals.
The rooms have been a major point of contention between Bruce Kahn, who runs Planet X, and city officials.
“We’re of the position that is the most egregious problem, the closed viewing rooms and the clientele that they attract,” City Attorney Charles Hinton said.
Mr. Kahn did not return phone calls Tuesday.
The ordinance adopted by the City Council in January requires that all areas of the store be visible from the manager’s station.
If Planet X loses its appeal for a permit, it will probably be allowed to continue to operate for up to three years so its owner can recoup the investment, Mr. Hinton said.
But the city will insist that the private viewing rooms be dismantled. If the owners insist that they also be grandfathered, the case may end up back in federal court.
Planet X drew objections from neighbors and officials when it opened in August 2003, offering adult merchandise exclusively.
When the city denied the store a certificate of occupancy and threatened to terminate utilities, Mr. Kuhn went to court and got a restraining order. A federal judge denied him a permanent injunction when the council passed the new sexually oriented business ordinance.
Meanwhile, Mike Hill, who owns The Video Store at 3015 Arapaho Road, feels as if he got caught in the crossfire between the city and Planet X.
After quietly selling adult videos and other products for 15 years, he said he returned from a bank run on Dec. 23 to find one of his clerks being taken away in handcuffs by Garland police.
“What irritated me more than anything was the way they went about it,” Mr. Hill said. “They didn’t have to come in here and put handcuffs on a girl who didn’t have anything to say about what we sell.”
Two of his employees were arrested and charged with selling obscene devices in violation of a state obscenity law, a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
The cases have been postponed several times and have yet to go to trial.
Similar arrests were made at other Garland stores that sell and rent adult videos.
Mr. Hill’s store is not classified as a sexually oriented business because adult merchandise comprises less than half of his business and is not the store’s “principal business purpose.”
He said he had always sought city approval and that police officers and building inspectors were welcome to visit and let him know if there were any problems.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” he said