JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ownership for 12 adult novelty stores is suing the City of Jacksonville in federal court, alleging the city is illegally targeting their businesses with frivolous code compliance complaints.
The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday, states that shops like Sunset Novelties, Inserection, Adam & Eve, Exotic Fantasies, Temptations Novelties & Gifts have operated for years within the city.
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But with the recent passage of Ordinance 2020-704-E, the suit states that the businesses are being targeted for violations like: “being located within 500 feet of a residential zone, failure to paint their front windows black, failure to provide a segregated front lobby, and failure to prevent their customers from using dressing rooms.”
After the passage of the ordinance, a new group of city officials with the City’s Planning and Development Department was tasked with inspecting the stores. Prior to that, “the City had a decades-long custom and policy of regulating and zoning Plaintiffs’ stores as conventional retail stores and not as adult bookstores or adult businesses,” according to the suit.
Because of this, the owners say they are grandfathered into the old rules.
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The suit says that none of the businesses have an inventory or display area of adult-oriented products that exceeds 40%, so they are not technically adult bookstores, which are subject to more regulation.
“Within the retail industry, stores such as Plaintiffs’ are often referred to as ‘percentage stores’ because they sell a modest quantity of adult merchandise, but not so much as to be regulated as an “adult business” or “sexually oriented business” under local adult entertainment codes,” the suit states.
The stores’ ownership believes that their businesses are being targeted because of what they’re selling.
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“The decisions of the Director of the Planning and Development Department have been content-based and are motivated by a desire to censor Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights because of objections to the content of their speech,” the suit states.
The suit also alleges that the City is “slow walking” the inspection and permitting process of the not-yet-open location of Sunset Novelties, which will be located at 5250 Baymeadows Road near Philips Highway.
Action News Jax has reached out to the City of Jacksonville for comment on the suit.
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