High Court Refuses to Hear Adult Club Case

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the city of Simi Valley’s appeal of a lower court ruling on the city’s seven-year fight to regulate the location of an adult business.

The high court’s order Monday lets stand the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said Simi Valley violated the 1st Amendment rights of a backer of an adult club by unreasonably denying him a zoning permit.

After granting Philip Young permission to build a strip club in 1993, the city revoked the permit based on a new ordinance regulating the location of adult businesses. The new law prohibited the location of adult clubs within 1,000 feet of any school, religious organization or park and within 500 feet of residential areas.

Before Young could open his club, a Bible study group moved next door. A nearby karate studio also disqualified Young from opening, city officials said.

Young’s attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, said the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial to hear the case gives the “stamp of approval” to the appellate decision and proves the city ordinance is unconstitutional. His client looks forward to moving ahead with the project, Diamond said. “We’re very relieved. It’s been a long battle.”

Simi Valley attorneys said they were disappointed by the court’s decision. “We believed that our ordinance was valid and constitutional,” City Atty. David Hirsch said.

City officials will meet with the private attorney assigned to the case, Hirsch said, so they can determine the city’s options for regulating adult businesses. It has since passed a new ordinance setting aside part of the city’s west end for strip clubs and adult bookstores.

The high court’s decision may also affect the city of Los Angeles, which filed a friend of the court brief with Simi Valley. Simi Valley’s case was remanded to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for further proceedings, Diamond said.