Declaratory Judgment – Ordinance Violation – 1st Amendment

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: HH-Indianapolis, LLC v. Consolidated City of Indianapolis

Case No.: 17-3023

Officials: BAUER, FLAUM, and MANION, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Declaratory Judgment – Ordinance Violation – 1^st Amendment

HH-Indianapolis, LLC (“HH”), intended to open a retail establishment in Indianapolis under the name “Hustler Hollywood.” After entering into a ten-year lease at 5505 E. 82nd St. (“the Property”), HH applied for sign and building permits. Problematically, HH’s proposed store was located in a zoning district that prohibited “adult entertainment businesses,” as defined under the Indianapolis Marion County Zoning Ordinance (“the Ordinance”). Upon review, the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services (DBNS) determined that HH was an adult entertainment business, a decision which the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) affirmed.

HH filed this lawsuit against the Consolidated City of Indianapolis and County of Marion, Indiana, the DBNS, and the BZA (collectively, “the City”) seeking a declaratory judgment that the Ordinance violated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and violated state administrative law, as well as asking for an injunction against the City’s enforcement of the Ordinance against HH. HH challenged the Ordinance under the First Amendment both as applied to it, as well as facially for overbreadth and vagueness. The district court denied HH’s motion for a preliminary injunction, and HH filed this interlocutory appeal challenging that decision only with respect to its as applied First Amendment claim. We affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.