Love Boutique vs. City of (not every) Industry

When you hear the phrase "zoning law," you probably yawn. But what if enforcement of the zoning law provokes a lawsuit? And that lawsuit is on behalf of the Deja Vu Love Boutique, which sells sex toys and other things for adults?

Industry Boutique sued City of Industry last week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The Nevada company, which operates Deja Vu Love Boutiques in cities around California, accused the city of "violating Deja Vu's free-speech rights under the federal and state constitutions" and of preventing its customers from gaining access, from the comfort of the sex-items shop, to all the wonders that the Internet has to offer.

It seems that in May, the Deja Vu Love Boutique branch in City of Industry decided to install some terminals where customers could pay to access the Web. A code enforcement officer for the city stumbled across these Internet terminals and cited the store four separate times in June and July. The issue at hand? The city said stores can't change or alter their business "unless a use permit is granted."

Deja Vu Love Boutique (sorry, the name is just so good it deserves to be written out in full again) applied for a new use permit. The city said it couldn't be processed because Deja Vu's proposed Internet access service wasn't listed as a permitted use in Zone C. So Deja Vu Love Boutique sued.

The company argues that by refusing to grant the permit, the city engages in "prior restraint" and bans a medium of constitutionally protected speech. "What if they passed a law that said no newspapers can be permitted in the city?" said Dale Manicom, an attorney for Industry Boutique.

Douglas Mirell, a partner at Loeb & Loeb who is not affiliated with the case, agreed. First off, Mirell said, adding an Internet service to a retail store doesn't really change ...

... much about the store -- it is, after all, still a retail store. Deja Vu Love Boutique shouldn't have to get a new use permit, he said, because "the term 'retail store' seems to me to cover a multitude of sins." And no, he wasn't referring to what the store sells. 

If the city won't let businesses operate Internet kiosks, he said, it is creating a 1st Amendment issue that it is likely to lose.

Kevin Radecki, city manager for City of Industry, was cryptic about the nature of the exact problem with Deja Vu's permit. He said that property zoned as commercial has a list of permitted uses, and that "what they were wanting to do was not a permitted use." He declined to specify exactly what that was.

With a name like Deja Vu Love Boutique and a MySpace page that lists the store as "28, female, horny," it's not hard to guess what customers were using the Internet for. The complaint describes the Internet as a place that allows individuals to "access diverse sources of news, entertainment and huge data collections in a multitude of fields, whether for purposes of personal enlightenment or mere amusement." It also says that "Deja Vu as well as the public will suffer irreparable injury" if the store isn't allowed the permit. Hmmm, accessing huge data collections for amusement. Fantasy football, perhaps?

-- Alana Semuels

Screen shot of Deja Vu Love Boutique's MySpace page

Comments

[gerrrg]

The city manager and his code enforcement team are simplistic folk.

How many Starbucks in the City of Industry sell Hotspot wireless web access? If retailing web access is not an implied use allowed in a commercial zone, then the city manager shall be forced to cite every Starbucks in the City of Industry. Quick - someone insist that the City Manager cite every Starbucks with Hotspot!

If the City doesn't quickly back down, they deserve every bit of embarrassment and the admonishment that they will get from the courts.

Just because the "The Deja Vu Love Boutique" has a myspace, it doesn't necessarily represent the company. It can be a very happy customer that is more than happy to promote the store by telling their friends and the rest of the public.
It's a pretty classy boutique. It's not dirty or smelly llike other typical shops are. The staff there is always is always on a professional level. So again, just because someone claims to be a "28 year-old horny female" " CIty of Industry Love Boutique" it does not mean it's the actual company.
You must be retarded to believe such a thing. Haven't you seen other so called celebrities with myspace accounts? Most likely the majority of those accounts are made up of hardcore fans like we have seen in the case of the love boutique,..

[Kitty Smithers]

I was reading this cheap shot attempt to trash The Deja Vu Love Boutique when I couldn't stop laughing when I read... "A code enforcement officer for the city stumbled across these Internet terminals and cited the store four separate times in June and July".( Still laughing at the thought...)

Alright folks, if you have to read the sentence over again, by all means knock yourself out. I believe it's hillarious! And here's the humor I found...

"A code enforcement officer" for the city just magically "STUMBLED" into the boutique? Sounds like the start of a bad joke! Hahaha! Don't worry "BILL", we'll keep it our little secert. (The wife and family friends don't have to know that you are a frequent shopper and guest at the club. You did tell us to keep it a secert, remember?)

Anyhow,"Bill", you failed to report that you are an avid customer and guest of the establishment. You did NOT "STUMBLE" , better yet let's take a stroll down memory lane...shall we?

That sunny summer afternoon you drove up about noon and parked your excempt vehicle by Pueblo Burger. You stepped out and walked towards the entrance. You took one glance and paused for a moment. When all of the sudden a little light came on. And you thought "naw, I'm not up for that this today".

You decided to walk down the sidewalk and didn't even look twice at the Smile Express.( You were just going to get hungry again later. The fried rice and egg rolls wasn't very forgiving the last time).

The delicious auroma of Nans's Grill Italian cusine, special sandwiches and healthy greek combos, nearly dragged you in with it's own scent of temptation.

Oh but wait! Whoa and behold, Deja Vu Showgirls and the Love Boutique were offering a great deal! I'm sure you remember. The bargin bin lap dance$ and the 2 for 1 dvd $ale? I'm sure that rings a bell or two...

So you wanted to blend in as much as you possibly could that day (it was a little tricky to accomplish that when you're wearing your "City of Industry..." employee uniform polo shirt.)

I remember cleaning the front door of the boutique that warm afternoon. As you approached the entrance,(WHAT DID I DO?) I gracefully opened the door and welcomed you to the fine establishment.

"STUMBLED" in the Boutique "Bill"? No, that's not how it happend, no. Other Intimate Relation Advisors also gave you salutations. And they will also agree that you strolled right in without a stop, drop and roll.

And so, you managed to pull it off by being exttra friendly more so than in other occassions. That's ok we all treated you with respect and answered your questions to the best of our ability, like always.

You were very curious about the New Internet Cafe and it wasn't even up and running yet. However, when it was first introduced to our customers, you were excited and as matter of a fact you signed up under a fictious name and address and tried it out.

You were informed about the rules and regulations and most importantly, that the internet was open to surf practically any sight of your own choice. This includes checking you email and doing online homework for those who have online courses for school and etc.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Internet Cafe was brought into the Boutique to provide extended customer service and enjoy the perks of complimentary appetizers while having fun participating in the Sweepstakes that was being offered.

The Boutique received so much positive customer feedback in regards to the new service. Not only were people coming in to shop they also had the opportunity to check their email, do office and online schoolwork, and everything else that their heart desired.

Although it is located inside the Love Boutique, it has its own section of the store. No distractions are visible and it's fun and easy to use when you're on the go just like "Bill" has demonstrated in the past. (There's no need to become sour when you know that all sales are final ok,"Bill?")

There are so many happy customers that there is really no need for the store to advertise. Word of mouth that the Boutique is a great place to shop for that special some is all we need really. It doesn't have to do anything but sit there and look pretty. Which brings me to mention, Starbucks provides internet service to their customers, why is the Love Boutique any different?

Some people do not realize that it takes a mature and open minded staff to properly operate an adult novelty store and offer friendly respectful customer service. There are people, like the the author who make a big deal about having the internet cafe and adult novelities underneath one roof. Why do they react this way? That's simple, they are not mentally mature enough to conduct themselves in a proper manner without getting giddy about every little toy they see. They sound like imature pimple infested high school kids that watch their first porn at their friends sleepover party...If you can't handle the heat stay out of the kitchen.

Starbuck offers the same internet service that the Love Boutique offers. Except the Love Boutique offers lavish seating accommedations and complimentary beverages and appetizers and most diffinitely a very safe and secured environment. And most of all what Starbucks lacks, parental supervision. At least the Boutique has an age appropiate requirement in order to use the service. Unlike Starbucks, that allows anyone(including young children) to surf the net. Thus granting easy acess for kids to visit websites totally inappropiate for them.

Needless to say, the Love Boutique is not the bad guy here. However, I would suggest the City of Industry to consider investigating REAL matters that affects the community as a whole and not just one establishment making an honest living unlike other surrounding business.

Or better yet, how about helping out the poor homeless man roams around the Stimson and Gale Plaza. He is a real issue. He needs a home. He needs food. There's more like him around town why not make a difference and show the citizens of Industry that you care.Stop wasting tax payer money on an issue that is totally legal and which does not cause any form of harm to the public or customers. I say investigate real problems like prostitution in the so called "Massage Parlors". There are so many around why don't you do something productive and give them a hard time?

Furthermore, The Deja Vu Love Boutique is a pleasant place to shop and many of the frequent and new customers enjoyed the Internet Cafe. Put your dirty minds away and be mature about this issue. You need to allow yourself to be open.

Unfortunately, there are places that conduct their business in a dishonest manner which gives The Love Boutique and other novelty stores a bad rap. And for those who have never been to the Boutique, I encourage you to visit and learn from it as it offers a number of fun gadget and gizmos, sexy appearal, sexy shoes, and so much more including educational books for first timers...(this means you, Alana).

The Deja Vu Love Boutique has many fans...just like our friend "Bill" who magically "STUMBLED" in the shop. ( He who continues to "stumble"...)

[Greg]

Wow, first of all I will give you the real story to why the city kept citing the industry boutique, since I was an employee at the time. The reason the city was shutting this so called internet cafe wasn't for online homework and email, it was the sweepstakes the store was running, it was a sweepstakes where customers would be paying for points to play the so called sweepstakes games but they were being shut down because the games were casino oriented, i'm talking keno, slot machines, video poker, etc. It was a pure underground casino and the city knew it. I was ringing up customers credit cards and quite a few had their cards maxed out and they only played the casino games and this was a problem, and also the boutique failed to notify the city of construction, before they were constructing this internet cafe, they were constructing an adult movie theater inside and the city put an end to it, but then they go and try to construct another thing. The Deja Vu Love boutique wasn't running a legit internet cafe, they were trying to run a casino and that isn't legal even if they called it a "sweepstakes" it was a lie and I know cause I worked there during the time