Adult bookstore sues city over denial of expansion

David Strow

Friday, Aug. 13, 1999 | 11:30 a.m.

A Las Vegas adult bookstore and its landlord are suing the City of Las Vegas in federal court, alleging their constitutional rights were violated when the city refused to allow the store's expansion.

The lawsuit was filed by Media Shops Inc., owner of Boulevard Books & Video, 1147 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Media operates three other adult bookstores in Las Vegas. The "Adult Superstores" are at 3850 W. Tropicana Ave., 3226 Spring Mountain Road and 601 S. Main Street.

The landlord of the 1147 S. Las Vegas Blvd. location is Denver Square Trust, which owns more than 47,000 square feet of space at the property.

On April 29, Denver Square Trust filed an application with the city to demolish the three buildings on its property and build a new, 13,000-square-foot building. Boulevard would lease 4,000 square feet of the building, up from the 1,200 square feet it now leases.

On July 27, the city council rejected the application. The bookstore is in a zoning district that does not permit sexually oriented business, but had been allowed to continue operating because the zoning occurred in 1992, two years after the store opened. However, the city informed the store in 1993 that it could not expand in that location.

Denver and Media challenged the ruling, saying the city has permitted expansions of other sexually-oriented businesses in similarly zoned districts. As a result, the plaintiffs argue, their constitutional right of equal protection has been violated.

In 1993, the plaintiffs said, strip club Olympic Garden, 1531 S. Las Vegas Blvd., was permitted by the city to expand from 9,100 square feet to 24,400 square feet, despite the fact that it existed in the same zoning district.