A new Washington Street store that sells pornographic videos, sex toys and lingerie closed temporarily Thursday afternoon after City Hall charged that they were in violation of zoning codes.
But the general manager of the Romantic Depot, Scott Johnson, says they have a right to operate and that the store provides an “upscale shopping environment that caters to couples and women.”
He added that they have stores in Bergen County, West Nyack, N.Y., and Elmsford, N.Y.
Zoning laws
Thursday, Mayor David Roberts released a statement saying, “After receiving numerous complaints by resident and merchants, I asked the officer to investigate the retail use of 606 Washington St. [Zoning Officer] Mr. Joel Mestre has advised me that Romantic Depot is in violation of existing zoning codes.”
According to Mestre, the sale of sexually oriented products is not allowed by city code in a retail district. At around 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, Mestre delivered a letter to the store. After receiving the letter, the store promptly closed as the owners consulted with their attorney about their options.
Roberts wasn’t the only one on the offensive. Councilman Michael Russo said that the store doesn’t fit Hoboken’s character, and should be closed.
“You walk into the store and you’re greeted by flavored condoms,” said Russo. “Is this the kind of store that we want two doors down from a toy store on Washington Street?”
He said that he is in the process of organizing a protest. “I’m going to do everything in my power to remove it from our main thoroughfare and from our city as a whole,” said Russo.
In addition, all of Washington Street was designated a historic district in the 1990s. That means that signage has to be approved by the Historic Preservation Commission. Officials said that the existing sign was approved by the board.
The back room
Johnson, the owner of the shop, said last week, “Sex is always controversial.” But he said he would like to “respectfully co-exist with Hoboken.”
He said that the store is separated into two sections. In the front are romantic videos, “romantic board games,” massage oils and lotions, and lingerie. Johnson said that the lingerie “is less provocative than what you would find at Victoria’s Secret.”
Only in the back room, he said, are the more exotic toys, videos, and novelties.
According to Johnson, customers must be 18 and over, and the desk clerk IDs everyone that looks younger than 25.
Johnson also said that because there are not “video peep shows,” he does not consider the store a “sex shop.”
Debate could be long and hard
While the ire of city officials has been raised, closing the store certainly is not a sure thing. There are several legal precedents that protect the store’s rights. The courts have ruled that the constitution gives adult businesses the right to operate, so municipalities can’t ban them outright.
But in 1999, the courts upheld a municipality’s ability to restrict their location, keeping them away from schools, churches, and residential neighborhoods. The city could legally create a district in the city where they are allowed to operate.
This issue actually came up in Hoboken in 1993, when Councilman Thomas Newman proposed creating zoning in a remote part of the city where sex shops could open. The rationale was that by relegating the adult stores to less desirable portions of town, they couldn’t pop up randomly in the central business district.
At the time, the ordinance was opposed by then-Mayor Anthony Russo who feared that it would create an unwanted “red light district.”
Another problem the city could face is that Romantic Depot is not the only store in the city that has pornographic material. Take Three Video, which was in the same space that Romantic Depot now inhabits, for years had adult videos for rent in the back of the store without a problem. Johnson would not confirm who the owner is, or whether or not the same company that owned Take Three owns the Romantic Depot.
There are a dozen or more newspaper and convenience stores that have graphic men’s magazines on shelves in plain view.
The question is, according to city attorney Joseph Sherman, whether a line has been crossed.
At Romantic Depot, he said, lingerie, condoms, and adult games are near the front of the store. “They are now certainly pressing the envelope,” he said.
In Elmsford
In Elmsford in Westchester County, N.Y., a somewhat similar situation to what is now happening in Hoboken occurred last October.
Romantic Depot opened a store in a traditionally conservative neighborhood. According to a series of stories in the local newspaper, The Journal News, there were protests and community unrest about the store opening on Frontage Street, which according to the story is “about a block away from a park.”
Currently, the legislative body has proposed an adult-entertainment law that would limit sex shops and strip clubs in the village to two small areas. But because they had invested substantial funds into their property, their Romantic Depot has to be given a significant amount of time before it is forced to move.
In Elmsford’s case, its Romantic Depot doesn’t have move until Dec. 1, 2009, according to the Journal News story.