A mixup in the kind of business license obtained by the owners of an adult store is now forcing them to stop selling adult merchandise.
Lorinda and Anthony Chapman, owners of the adult novelty store Platinum Palace said they unwittingly submitted a business license application for a novelty retail store instead of one for an adult business and must now move their business or stop selling adult items which makes up 60 percent of the store’s sales, the Clarion-Ledger reported.
It was on July 1 when the couple applied for a permit – the same day they signed a lease for a 1,000-square-foot store front at 2415 W. Fourth St. But after spending their life’s savings in remodeling and repainting the building’s interior, city inspectors said the store was barred from selling adult materials because it did not have the proper permits.
By law, business districts, such as the strip mall where the shop is located, are not allowed to have adult stores.
On Wednesday, the couple will ask the city Planning Commission to give them a special permit and waive zoning requirements barring such stores from operating in business districts. But the commission typically does not grant such changes, the newspaper said.
But Councilman Kim Bradley said he sympathizes with the Chapmans, saying it was an honest mistake that they applied for the wrong permit.
But it's unclear how the commission would vote. If the Chapmans’ request is denied, they could ask the City Council to take up the matter.
