In the midst of a court battle to keep an adult book and video store from reopening in its industrial park, Elk Grove Village is rewriting its zoning laws to prevent similar stores from opening in commercial areas.
Busse News and Video opened for more than two months last summer at 1461 Busse Highway, even after Elk Grove Village refused to give the business an occupancy permit or business license. Zoning rules prohibit a business in the industrial park from devoting more than 20 percent of its space to retail.
After Busse News came to town, Elk Grove Village officials realized they would be hard-pressed to stop a similar business from opening in any commercial area in town, such as a busy strip mall or the village’s newly renovated Town Center shopping complex downtown.
“Some of our trustees were concerned that they couldn’t prohibit this use if they wanted, even if it is an obnoxious use,” said Village Atty. George Knickerbocker. “We would have a real hard time closing them down in a commercial area.”
To prevent that from happening, the Village Board decided to have its Judiciary, Planning and Zoning Committee work on revisions to ordinances regarding adult businesses.
“It’s a fine line that we walk in government,” said Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. “We have to protect the constitutional rights people have, their freedom of speech. But you also have to protect the interests of other groups involved, like young people, churches and schools. We have to make sure we don’t infringe on either side.”
The village will try to pinpoint an appropriate location in town where a similar business could open and craft new zoning rules around that location, Knickerbocker said.
In the meantime, the matter is unfolding in federal and state courts.
Last summer, Busse News sued Elk Grove Village in U.S. District Court, contending that the village infringed on the business owners’ 1st Amendment rights. At the same time, Elk Grove Village slapped Busse News with 156 building code violations and took it to Cook County Circuit Court for opening the business without permission.
Busse News faces $78,000 in building-code fines for occupying a building and installing a banner sign without permits, and using temporary wiring without village approval.
Attorneys for Busse News have argued that the industrial park, far from schools, churches or residences, is an ideal place for an adult bookstore to locate. The store, a brick building next door to a gas station, is in the middle of the industrial park’s 5-square-mile borders.
The store planned to offer magazines, books, videos, a video-viewing booth and “novelties” in its 3,400-square-foot store, according to court records.
“Their main goal is putting them out of business. They have a right to be in business,” said Angelo Ruggiero, who is representing Busse News in Circuit Court. “It’s not near churches, schools or kids.”
Knickerbocker agreed that the industrial park would be a better location for Busse News than a busy commercial area where children hang around. But the business never applied for a special-use permit or a zoning variance that would have allowed it to open in the industrial park.
“It was their brashness,” Knickerbocker said. “They did what they wanted to do and opened illegally. Our response is to defend our ordinances.”
Busse News lost its first battle in federal court, when Judge Joan Gottschall turned down a request for a temporary restraining order requiring the village to let the business open. She ruled that the village did not violate the owners’ 1st Amendment rights by refusing to grant the necessary permits.
The case could still go to trial over those issues, and a hearing is scheduled for April. Busse News’ attorney handling the federal case, Joseph Curcio, was not available for comment.
The state case will come up next week in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court.
