Sexually explicit merchandise back on Taboo’s shelves; city tickets Taboo

The Taboo sex shop Wednesday got a third round of tickets after its owner publicly said he had restocked the store’s shelves with sexually explicit merchandise.

A Columbia zoning inspector wrote Taboo the Couples Superstore store two tickets at 3:50 p.m. Wednesday. Each ticket carries a fine of up to 30 days in jail and $500 per day.

The citations constitute the latest episode in years of legal wrangling between the Devine Street store and Columbia, which adopted more restrictive zoning laws shortly after Taboo legally opened in December 2011. The store also was issued licensing tickets on March 24 and March 28.

Store owner Jeff White told The State newspaper on Tuesday that Taboo last week restocked its shelves with sexually explicit items for a sale meant to bring the store into compliance with Columbia laws.

White said Taboo will sell off that merchandise with a buy-one, get-one-free deal. Taboo will not restock the items, but will operate as a general retail shop, he said.

White said the sale is legal because Columbia’s zoning ordinance defines a “sexual device shop” as “regularly featuring sexual devices.” Wednesday’s citations did not change those plans, he said.

“I’m operating within the ordinance, and they don’t like it,” White said. “But they wrote the ordinance.”

The Chattanooga lawyer hired by Columbia to write and defend its zoning and sex shop law changes said Tuesday he would not comment on the city’s legal opinion on the matter.

“I’m not going to engage in responding to Mr. White’s ongoing imaginations about how he is going to try to circumvent either a code or a court order,” Scott Bergthold said. “The reality is the city is going to enforce it’s ordinance. Every argument that has been made by Mr. White to this point has been rejected by the courts, by an administrative hearing officer, by the Board of Zoning Appeals.”

Taboo last month restocked its shelves with sexually explicit merchandise but quickly pulled it off after city officials ticketed the store and its employees.

Columbia’s fight with Taboo began when the city rewrote its zoning laws after Taboo’s opening to restrict where sexually oriented businesses could operate.

City officials gave Taboo a two-year grace period that could be extended if the owners could prove moving would cause a financial hardship. But Taboo’s request for an extension was denied after a public hearing.

Federal judge Terry Wooten has twice rejected Taboo’s suit alleging the laws were unconstitutional, and the store has appealed his ruling to the U.S. Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va. White has said he will take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Taboo in the future will sell mostly lingerie, lubricants, lotions, games, candles, and other products available at general retail stores, White said. Becoming a general retailer is important to protect the store and its employees from future city citations, he said.

As for the remaining explicit devices, White said, “I’m hoping they fly off the shelves.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Sexually explicit merchandise back on Taboo’s shelves; city tickets Taboo."