Supreme Court Rejects Review Of City's Adult Entertainment Laws

SANDY SPRINGS, GA — The United States Supreme Court has chosen not to take up a petition seeking to review zoning and licensing ordinances enacted by the city of Sandy Springs that govern adult entertainment establishments.

The court on Monday rejected a writ of certiorari filed by the plaintiffs in February to review a decision made by a three-judge panel of the United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declining a request from these businesses asking that the case be heard by a full panel of judges.

"The lower federal courts had consistently ruled that the city’s ordinances are constitutional regulations designed to protect the Sandy Springs community from the crime and blight documented to occur in and around adult establishments," city spokesperson Sharon Kraun said in a statement. "The city expects full compliance with its ordinances, and is presently pursuing an injunction against the establishments in the Fulton County Superior Court."

The case began in 2006 when adult entertainment clubs, Flashers and Mardi Gras, and Inserection, an adult bookstore, challenged newly implemented codes that banned the sale of alcohol in strip clubs and placed zoning restrictions on where these business could operate. Those restrictions also regulated patron conduct, imposed restrictions on performances and regulated the display of adult materials.

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"Although each of the petitioners is located in the proper zoning district, they do not meet the setback
restrictions imposed on adult uses by the regulations," the petitioned argued. "Even if (the) petitioners operated as lawful nonconforming uses before Sandy Springs came into existence, they are not permitted to continue to operate as such because Sandy Springs requires prior nonconforming adult entertainment establishments — and only adult entertainment establishments — to terminate their non-conforming use after an amortization period."

The book store and clubs filed suit in U.S. District Court, alleging that Sandy Springs violated its First and Fourteenth Amendments under the U.S. Constitution. A March 2016 court ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May stated the city did not violate the U.S. Constitution in implementing code restrictions.

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In its petition filed at the country's highest court, the petitioners argued enforcing the city's regulations "sounds the death knell" for the three businesses. For example, when the city implemented a two-week ban on alcohol sales in 2009, Flanigan's, the company that operates Mardi Gras at 6300 Powers Ferry Road, experienced an 80 to 90 percent drop in business and lost 90 percent of its performers "who left to go dance at venues outside Sandy Springs where alcohol was permitted."

It also said Flasher's at 6420 Roswell Road "suffered equally fatal loses." As for Inserection, enforcement of the zoning restrictions will force the company at 7855 Roswell Road to close the location is has operated for more than 25 years, the lawyers for the plaintiffs argued.

Patch has reached out to Cary Wiggins, who represented the three businesses in its lawsuit against Sandy Springs, to get his reaction to the high court's decision. Return for updates.

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