Aug 21, 2008 4:56 pm US/Eastern
Howard Co. Loses Battle Against Adult Video Store
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) ―
-
-
Howard County admits it has lost the battle against an adult video store on Route 40 after a decade of legal wrangling.
Howard County admits it has lost the battle against an adult video store on Route 40 after a decade of legal wrangling.
Suzanne Collins reports taxpayers even had to reimburse the Pack Shack for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
When the Pack Shack opened in Ellicott City in 1997, there were regular protests. People were saying it could damage families and was too close to homes.
Eleven years later the Pack Shack is still around despite passage of two zoning laws and a long legal fight by Howard County.
"As far as the county is concerned, they seem to have met the letter of the ordinance as it's currently crafted," said Margaret Ann Nolan, Howard County solicitor.
Maryland's highest court found the first zoning law violated the Pack Shack's right to free speech.
"It was unconstitutional because it was nothing but a veiled attempt at censorship. And as a consequence, the county was hit with a big legal bill," said Howard Schulman, Pack Shack owner.
A homeowner living behind the shop says she just wishes the place looked more anonymous.
"I'm not so much opposed to it being there, it's how it looks. The image it's portraying to the community and when we drive by and I drive by with my three children," said Jennifer Gesell.
When the current zoning law required the Pack Shack to only sell 20 percent of adult merchandise, it began to stock T-shirts and old paperbacks having nothing to do with sex.
A curious thing happened when
Eyewitness News went to the Pack Shack Thursday. The door was locked.
A moment after
WJZ crews arrived, a man came running out to his car and drove away, and the clerk relocked the door.
After calling the Pack Shack's lawyer,
Eyewitness News was able to get into the store, but without a camera.
The adult stock is away from the windows in a back room with peep show booths.
Church groups who have protested the shop say they're disappointed with the latest legal outcome.
"What are we going to do about the lives that will be broken by the use of this material," said pastor Stephen Green.
The county had to reimburse the Pack Shack more than $180,000 in legal costs.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
