City moves to close adult bookstore

Erin Neff

Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

The city's battle with adult bookstore Hot Stuff is blazing toward the courts again.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday authorized the city attorney's office to consider the store a nuisance, and as such, ask a state court to close Hot Stuff's doors.

"For the betterment of the community, regardless of the cost, we need to litigate it," Councilman Michael McDonald said. "We cannot afford to lose one ounce of litigation to save our neighborhoods."

The city has been battling Hot Stuff since 1997 when store representatives seeking a temporary bookstore license told city staff that about 30 percent of shop merchandise would be adult videos. The store, located at 5100 W. Charleston Blvd., is in an area zoned for limited commercial activity.

Adult businesses are only allowed in industrial zoned areas.

When the city audited Hot Stuff during its temporary license period, it determined that more than 58 percent of store inventory was sexually oriented.

The city terminated Hot Stuff's license. Hot Stuff sued and the city won at the District Court level.

But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Hot Stuff's favor, claiming there wasn't timely review of license afforded by the city. The court also enjoined the city from shutting the store down.

Armed with a change in state law granting timely review of licenses, the city returned to court in June asking to vacate the injunction that forbids the city from closing Hot Stuff. The federal court agreed on July 20.

Ten days later, Hot Stuff was cited for doing business without a license. The store receives a $1,000 fine each day it is open.

But the store's former general manager, Aaron Gordon, told the Sun that the new owners vow to continue fighting city efforts to close the store.

Michael Stein, an attorney representing Hot Stuff, argued with city staff's recollection of events in the case and asked the council to hold off on its authorization of legal action until the 9th Circuit Court again decides the case, and thus spare both the store and the city additional legal expenses.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic said the city has not hired any outside attorneys to litigate this case at any level. He did not have an estimate for the staff hours or resources that have gone into the case.

Stein told the council that the city's attempts to close Hot Stuff were "chock full of a lot of unconstitutional elements."

But the council unanimously authorized additional legal action.

"This to me is one of the greatest nuisances we have in the city of Las Vegas," Councilman Gary Reese said.

Shortly after approving the action, McDonald left the council meeting to testify before the Clark County commissioners, who were considering a zoning code change related to the distance between adult businesses.

"We're not trying to close down adult businesses," McDonald said.