Court Blocks Closure of Adult Store in Escondido

A U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday that temporarily prevents the City of Escondido from shutting down an adult bookstore that is operating in violation of city zoning regulations.

The ruling by Judge Edward Schwartz is the first round in a lawsuit filed against the city in April by the owners of Video Specialties, a store selling adult books, novelties, films and videotapes. Owners David and Carol Paddock sued for the right to stay open after city officials notified them that the store on South Escondido Boulevard was operating illegally.

Schwartz issued the injunction, pending a trial in the case, because it was not clear whether the city had provided enough possible relocation sites for the store, according to Escondido Deputy City Atty. John Serrano.

The city’s zoning ordinance prohibits adult businesses within 1,000 feet of preschools and any property zoned for residences. Video Specialties, the first adult business to open in Escondido since 1975, is 320 feet from the nearest home and 520 feet from a preschool, Serrano said.

But Roger Diamond, an attorney for the Paddocks, said the city is “exaggerating the proximity” issue. The nearest homes, he said, are “up on a hill, so there’s no danger that people from the houses are going to pass by the store.” The preschool is separated from the store by a major highway, he said.

Besides, Diamond said, the preschool opened after Video Specialties moved in.

Under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, adult businesses have the right to distribute their material and must have “reasonable access to the marketplace,” Serrano said. To guarantee Video Specialties that right, he said, the city has identified three locations --a total of 15 acres--where adult businesses may legally operate in Escondido. The sites are a combination of vacant lots, stores that are occupied, and buildings that are not leased, Serrano said.

Diamond scoffed at the city’s offer, arguing that the properties included parking lots and a vacant gas station and warehouse. None of the sites is available for relocation by his clients, he said.

“We don’t believe that we’re compelled to build a building on a vacant lot,” Diamond said. “We believe that there have to be retail storefront properties not currently occupied.”

The city disagrees. “Our position is that we don’t have to make the doors open for them,” Serrano said. “That’s between (them) and the private landlord.”

Diamond maintains that the store is on the best possible site for an adult business in Escondido. Some of the properties suggested by the city for the store’s relocation are closer to homes, he claimed. The city has proposed those sites because the homes are not on property zoned for residences, but on commercially zoned property, Diamond said. “The city is arguing a technicality,” he said.

Schwartz issued the temporary ruling preventing the city from closing the store because he thought “there was serious question as to whether the city had enough locations for (Video Specialties) to relocate,” Serrano said.

Serrano said the Paddocks, who also own adult bookstores in Rubidoux and San Bernardino, were granted a license in Escondido because they characterized their store as a “video store” and not as an adult business.

The Paddocks did not think they had to identify their business, Diamond said.

“Who knows what an adult business is, anyway?” he asked. “It doesn’t matter what the city thought. It’s clear we’re legal, at least until the time of the trial.”