Brainerd novelty business challenges adult bookstore ordinance

A new adult entertainment and bookstore ordinance in Crow Wing County is causing at least one business owner to sweat.

Ronald W. Beattie Jr., owner of Risky Business Novelties and Videos, Inc. in Brainerd, is so concerned that the ordinance, approved by county commissioners last spring, could threaten business that he has filed suit in federal court hoping to keep county officials from enforcing the measure.

Beattie's attorney, Randall Tigue, argued in court documents that the business, which opened in 2005, is not considered "adult entertainment" or an "adult bookstore" under Brainerd city ordinance because it keeps a "substantial or significant portion" of its inventory off the main floor.

But under the county ordinance, which supercedes the city measure, a store can be seen as an "adult bookstore" if "such a building or portion of such building excludes minors by reason of age." Risky Business does not allow minors on the premises.

Tigue said the ordinance is unconstitutional and "overbroad" and could force Beattie to make a variety of changes to the business by Dec. 5 — including blackening windows, paying licensing fees and reducing hours — or run the risk of having it closed.

"They're basically putting on some restrictions he can't live with, so we're going to challenge the validity of the ordinance," Tigue said Monday.

Earlier this year, Beattie was charged in Crow Wing County with selling illegal synthetic drugs out of his Brainerd store. The case was later dismissed.