Exclusive Video is chock full of porn videos, magazines, and sex toys - but Sarasota County says it's not an adult business, as county law defines one. Come again?
The county's chief code enforcement officer says Exclusive falls outside the county definition of an adult business. Why? Because Exclusive's owner keeps his goods on wall-mounted shelves and other shelves close to the walls - while county law defines an adult business as a business where adult materials take up at least 15 percent of the floor area used for displays or equal 20 percent or more of the store's displayed inventory.
The store opened over two years ago as a licensed adult business, but owner Kipp Whaley couldn't renew his license last year because the new property manager refused to sign it, says the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Thus, he re-arranged his merchandise.
And, because his monthly sales have fallen about 50 percent since he had to take 3,500 videos off his shelves and store them elsewhere, the paper says, Whaley plans to sue to recover that plus his costs for re-arranging the store.
The county may rearrange the law in question this summer, the paper says.
