Nightclub Management, Ltd. v. City of Cannon Falls, No. CIV.98-2370(JRT/FLN).
| Decision Date | 19 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.98-2370(JRT/FLN). |
| Parties | NIGHTCLUB MANAGEMENT, LTD.; Lounge Management, Ltd.; Daneika Glen, Nikolle Guion, and Jane Doe, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF CANNON FALLS, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Randall D.B. Tigue, Law Office, Minneapolis, MN, for plaintiffs.
Elliott B. Knetsch and Andrea McDowell Poehler, Campbell Knutson, Eagan, MN, for defendant.
This case involves the constitutionality of a city's attempt to regulate a nude dancing establishment. The Court recognizes that regulation of such businesses is clearly permissible and appropriate under the law, and respects defendant's desire to protect its residents from the unwanted side effects of crime, prostitution, and declining neighborhoods that can accompany such businesses. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has established specific standards that are necessary to render such regulation constitutionally valid, and the Court concludes that in one respect, defendant's efforts have fallen short of the mark.
Plaintiff Nightclub Management, Ltd. operates Class Act, a nude dancing establishment located in defendant City of Cannon Falls ("the City"). Plaintiffs Daneika Glen, Nikolle Guion, and Jane Doe are dancers at Class Act. Plaintiff Lounge Management, Ltd. operates Peeler's Bar, which is located in the same building as Class Act. Collectively, plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of the City's sexually oriented business licensing and public indecency ordinances. Plaintiffs also challenge the City's attempt to require them to comply with the City's liquor license regulations, which prohibit the issuance of new liquor licenses to anything but restaurants.1 Both sides seek summary judgment on plaintiffs' claims. For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that the licensing ordinance fails to provide adequate procedural safeguards, rejects plaintiffs' challenge to the public nudity ordinance, and holds that plaintiffs need not comply with the restaurant requirement.
Prior to July 1998, the building housing Class Act and Peeler's Bar was located in an unincorporated area of Cannon Falls Township in Goodhue County, Minnesota, outside the geographical boundaries of the City. In July 1998, however, the City annexed the territory on which these businesses are located. Prior to this annexation, there were no nude dancing establishments in the City.
Knowing that it was about to annex property containing a sexually oriented business, the City endeavored to determine the proper means of zoning and regulating such businesses. On November 20, 1997, the City Council adopted a resolution directing the Planning Commission to study the issue of zoning and appropriate regulations. The scope of the study was to include the effect of adult establishments on other zoning uses. In connection with its study, the Commission reviewed studies conducted in other communities and noted that these communities had concluded that increased crime and reduced property values usually accompany adult businesses. The Commission also reviewed a proposed zoning ordinance and a 1989 report conducted by the state Attorney General. This report considered evidence relating to the effects of adult businesses from other cities, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, Phoenix, and Indianapolis.
On February 19, 1998, the City Council adopted a resolution setting forth findings of fact regarding the impact of adult businesses on crime rates and property values. The City Council found that the cities cited in the various reports are sufficiently similar to the City such that the evidence of those cities' experiences with adult businesses is relevant to determining the propriety of regulating such businesses in the City. Based on the experiences of the cities as set forth in the Attorney General's report and the other studies it reviewed, the City Council further found that sexually oriented businesses have the potential to create adverse secondary effects within the City and that regulation is necessary to minimize the potential adverse secondary effects associated with such businesses.
On September 3, 1998, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 188 (the "licensing ordinance"), which defines and establishes criteria for licensing sexually oriented businesses, and Ordinance No. 189, which establishes zoning regulations for sexually oriented businesses. Two months later, on November 5, 1998, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 195 (the "public nudity ordinance"), which, among other restrictions, prohibits persons from knowingly and intentionally appearing in a state of nudity2 in a public setting or place except as part of "any theatrical production performed in a theater by a professional or amateur theatrical or musical company which has serious artistic merit." Cannon Falls, Minn., Ordinance No. 195 § 1, subd. 5.
The licensing ordinance defines "sexually oriented businesses" to include, inter alia, "sexually oriented cabarets." Cannon Falls, Minn., Ordinance No. 188 § 1. Such a cabaret, in turn, is defined as a "nightclub, bar, restaurant, or similar commercial establishment which regularly features: (A) Persons who appear in a state of nudity; or (B) Live performances which are characterized by the exposure of `specified anatomical areas' or by `specified sexual activities' ...."3 Id. Under the licensing ordinance, sexually oriented businesses must obtain a license in order to operate. See Ordinance No. 188 § 3, subd. 3. Plaintiffs do not dispute that Class Act qualifies as a sexually oriented business and must obtain a license and otherwise comply with the terms of the ordinance.
Potential licensees must submit an application on a form provided by the City Administrator, who thereafter must approve the issuance of a license within thirty days after receiving a complete application unless he finds one of ten conditions specifically enumerated in the ordinance. See Ordinance No. 188 § 3, subd. 4. If the City Administrator denies a license, the aggrieved party may file an appeal with the City Council within ten days of receiving notice. See Ordinance No. 188 § 3, subd. 10. An appeal to the City Council "stays the action of the City Administrator in requiring, suspending or revoking a license until the City Council makes a final decision." Id. The licensing ordinance also sets forth general restrictions applicable to sexually oriented businesses.
The City's liquor license regulations prohibit the issuance of an "initial license" to an establishment that is not a restaurant. See Cannon Falls, Minn., Code § 5.45. The regulations define "restaurant" quite specifically, down to the number of meals it must serve per day, the type and variety of food which must be offered, and the hours during which food is to be served. See § 5.45, subd. 4. Liquor establishments that held a valid license on January 3, 1986, the effective date of this regulation, are exempt from the restaurant requirement so long as they do not allow their licenses to expire without timely filing an application for renewal. See § 5.45, subd. 3. There is no dispute that on January 3, 1986, Peeler's Bar, which was then known as Dick's Place, held a Goodhue County liquor license and has been continuously licensed ever since.
Summary judgment is appropriate where there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing substantive law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In considering a motion for summary judgment, a court is required to view the facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Lomar Wholesale Grocery, Inc. v. Dieter's Gourmet Foods, Inc., 824 F.2d 582, 585 (8th Cir.1987). Summary judgment is to be granted only where the evidence is such that no reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. The moving party bears the burden of bringing forward sufficient evidence to establish that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
Plaintiffs first attack the ordinance on the ground that it is a pretext for content-based discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. Plaintiffs offer evidence that in crafting the ordinance, the City relied on materials from the National Family Legal Foundation, which plaintiffs characterize as a "religious right organization dedicated to the total censorship of sexual speech." Plaintiffs further argue that the restrictive provisions of the ordinance itself, combined with the fact that the ordinance is aimed only at sexually oriented businesses, demonstrates that the City's only motive is to censor sexually explicit speech.
The Court doubts that an alleged illicit motive on the part of the enacting legislators could, all by itself, suffice to invalidate an otherwise valid law on First Amendment grounds. Time and again, and most recently in City of Erie v. Pap's A.M., the Supreme Court has reiterated that courts "will not strike down an otherwise constitutional statute on the basis of an alleged illicit motive." City of Erie v. Pap's A.M., ___ U.S. ___, 120 S.Ct. 1382, 1392, 146 L.Ed.2d 265 (2000) (). Plaintiffs rely on ...
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