NB Herald 4/5/07

Blumenthal to fight VIP in federal court next week
By: Scott Whipple, Herald Staff
04/05/2007
BERLIN – Over the objection of VIP (Very Intimate Pleasures), Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has been permitted to appear as a friend of the court on behalf of the town of Berlin in its bid to uphold the right of municipalities to regulate sexually oriented businesses within their borders.
VIP, a sexually oriented store chain seeking a permit to open a store in Berlin, is suing the town for refusing to issue a permit. Under its Sexually Oriented Business ordinance, Berlin prohibits such stores from operating within 250 feet of any residentially zoned land.
A hearing is scheduled next week in federal court.
The attorney general said Berlin’s fight against VIP is vital to the welfare of citizens in towns and cities statewide that have ordinances regulating sexually-oriented businesses.
VIP opposed Blumenthal’s motion to be involved on Berlin’s side.
“The court recognizes the ramifications this single case has beyond Berlin’s borders for the entire state,” Blumenthal said. “The state will be at Berlin’s side in court – protecting the right of every city and town in Connecticut to protect citizens from sexually oriented business.”
The attorney general said municipalities must use their authority to stop “the well-documented harms of these businesses, including increased crime and lowered property values.”
Observing that these businesses are proliferating in the state, Blumenthal warned that adult book stores, video stores, massage parlors and facilities featuring live nude entertainment are opening near homes.
Gary Porter, VIP’s general manager, appearing as a guest Wednesday on WTIC radio’s Colin McEnroe show, said Berlin was picked for its demographics and the building’s easy conversion from a Huffman and Koos furniture store.
Porter assured listeners that VIP stores are well-policed and that the chain “tries to be a good citizen.”
“We make sure customers must be 18 or older,” he said. He added that similar adult products are currently available in shopping malls.
Blumenthal said courts across the nation, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have upheld ordinances regulating sexually oriented businesses based on evidence of their adverse secondary effects on communities.
Still, McEnroe wondered what the fuss was all about.
“If you can’t do this on the Berlin Turnpike, I don’t know where you can,” he told Porter.