At Tuesday's meeting of Hartford's zoning board of appeals, the city denied an appeal to open a South Meadows sex shop.
The site for the prospective shop was initially approved by city planner Jerry Maine, but according to the Hartford Courant, the city's zoning enforcement officer countered that the site was too close to a trash museum that is visited regularly by students.
Although city planner Jerry Maine still stands by his original opinion, the city's attorney argued at Tuesday's meeting that Maine was mistaken and that the zoning laws are clear.
The attorney for Joseph Sullo, the man proposing the sex shop, told reporters that his client got caught in a classic bait-and-switch by a city trying to shut out the sex industry.
"Students would hardly be harmed if a trip to the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority's Trash Museum took them past an adult store," Maine told the Courant. "They're going to drive by the VIP anyway," he said, referring to another nearby sex shop. "They're already going by one adult establishment."
According to the report, this is Sullo's second stalled attempt to open an adult establishment in the city. Maine also backed Sullo during his first attempt, providing several suitable locations for the shop in a city document. In the end, Sullo abandoned his first potential fight with the city and withdrew the lawsuit, but has since moved on to Plan B: an adult retail store at the South Meadows site.
That application was rejected in December on the claim of a nearby "educational facility."
During Tuesday's appeal, Sullo's lawyer, Daniel Silver, hinted at a deliberate effort to frustrate his client. After public input and discussion, the board voted unanimously to uphold the city's decision.
Silver said the next step could be state or federal court. The city is standing firm.
