MIDVALE, Utah - The owner of Dr. John's Lingerie is suing the city in an effort to drop the business' "sexually oriented" status.
The Midvale shop has an 8-foot grid of "adult toys" and a shelf of adult videos on its wall, and the city requires licensing for the sale of such items, according to district court reports.
Midvale requires any store selling sexually oriented items to be licensed as a sexually oriented business, although the ordinance says only stores whose principal purpose is selling such items must be licensed.
The adult novelty store's attempt to drop the "sexually oriented businesses" designation is its second in 10 years.
"The sale of such materials, however, is incidental to the larger purpose of selling material aimed at enhancing the enjoyment of the romantic aspects of life, without being sexually oriented," states the filing made Tuesday.
Andrew McCullough, an attorney for the store, added that Dr. John's Lingerie would be willing to comply with the city's rules in order to have its status as a sexually oriented business dropped.
The manager of the Midvale store was cited twice in February for selling adult items.
