Title: Do-Wop Corp. t/a Razzle Dazzle Fantasy Runway v. City of Rahway
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: a-25-00
State: new-jersey
Issuer: new-jersey Supreme Court
Date: June 29, 2001

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized). Coleman, J., writing for the Court. Do-Wop Corporation (Do-Wop) and its predecessor began operating an adult entertainment business on Route 1 in Rahway in March 1991 after obtaining required licenses. Do-Wop became the operator in May 1993. The business consists of the sale of adult books and videos, the operation of an adult amusement center, and dancing meant for adult entertainment. When the business opened in 1991, Rahway's Municipal Code did not impose minimum distance requirements in respect of other adult entertainment centers, schools, places of worship, or residential neighborhoods. That changed before the expiration of Do-Wop's license on December 31, 1993, when, on August 23, 1993, Rahway passed Ordinances A-44-93 and A-45-93. Those ordinances set up buffer zones for adult entertainment and amusement centers. Preexisting centers that became nonconforming uses were allowed to continue in operation for up to two years. As a nonconforming use, Do-Wop's applications for renewal of its licenses were approved for 1994 and 1995. The State Legislature passed two bills that addressed many of the same concerns that led Rahway to adopt Ordinances A-44-93 and A-45-93. The bills were signed into law and took effect September 15, 1995. As a part of that statute, 1,000 foot buffer zones were required for adult entertainment centers unless a municipality passed a zoning ordinance that permitted the use within one or more of the categories of buffer zones. N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7. It is undisputed that Rahway has not adopted a zoning ordinance that would legalize sexually-oriented businesses within the buffer zones. Do-Wop filed a timely application for renewal of its licenses on December 27, 1995. On the same day, Rahway informed Do-Wop that the renewal application had been rejected because the two-year period permitting nonconforming uses had expired. Do-Wop filed suit in January 1996, seeking an order declaring the 1993 ordinances to be in violation of the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL). Rahway filed a counterclaim seeking enforcement of the 1993 ordinances and N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7. After a summary hearing in January 1998, the trial court found for Do-Wop and directed it to file applications for 1996, 1997, and 1998. An order memorializing that decision was entered June 23, 1998. Do-Wop failed to file the applications within a year of the January 1998 hearing. On March 26, 1999, the trial court entered another order that directed Do-Wop to file proper applications that included identification of and fingerprints for each stockholder. When Do-Wop failed to comply, the trial court issued an April 16, 1999, order compelling Do-Wop to cease operating its business. Rahway appealed the June 23, 1998, order and Do-Wop appealed the April 16, 1999, order. The Appellate Division reversed the April 1999 order because the trial court had not addressed the constitutional challenges to the fingerprint and identification requirements. The Court granted Rahway's petition for certification. 1. Do-Wop argues that the Rahway ordinances are zoning ordinances and that they violate the MLUL. Rahway contends that the 1995 statute (N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7) trumped the nonconforming use protection of the MLUL and that the decisions of the courts below effectively grandfathered all preexisting sexually-oriented businesses. (pp. 7- 9) 2. The nonconforming use protection of the MLUL applies solely to actions taken by municipal zoning ordinance. The adoption of the State law creating buffer zones clearly does not qualify as a municipal zoning ordinance. Its prohibitions therefore apply to Do-Wop. (pp. 9-11) 3. The absence of any reference to the State statute in Rahway's written rejection of Do-Wop's license-renewal does not affect the application of that statute to the business. (pp. 11-13) 4. The claim that the trial court's order requiring fingerprinting and identification of Do-Wop stockholders was unconstitutional has become moot. (p. 13) The judgment of the Appellate Division is REVERSED. CHIEF JUSTICE PORITZ and JUSTICES STEIN, LONG, VERNIERO, and ZAZZALI join in JUSTICE COLEMAN's opinion. JUSTICE LaVECCHIA did not participate. DO-WOP CORP., t/a RAZZLE DAZZLE FANTASY RUNWAY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. CITY OF RAHWAY, Defendant-Appellant. Argued March 27, 2001 -- Decided June 29, 2001 On certification to the Superior Court, Appellate Division. Louis N. Rainone argued the cause for appellant (DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick, Gluck, Hayden &amp; Cole, attorneys; Mr. Rainone and Anthony C. DeFelice, on the brief). Stephen E. Milazzo argued the cause for respondent (Milazzo, Fortunato, McCann &amp; Murray, attorneys). The opinion of the Court was delivered by COLEMAN, J., This case involves licensing provisions of the Code of the City of Rahway. Pursuant to that Code, individuals and commercial establishments that operate adult-oriented businesses are required to obtain annual licenses. The critical issue raised in this appeal is whether a statute that changed plaintiff's sexually-oriented business from a licensed conforming use to a nonconforming use has been grandfathered by virtue of the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL), N.J.S.A. 40:55D-68. The trial court and the Appellate Division concluded that plaintiff is protected by the MLUL. We disagree and reverse. E) Amortization of nonconforming uses. As to those establishments which are operating as of the date of passage of this Ordinance, they shall become unlawful two years following the passage of the Ordinance. [Rahway, N.J., Code ch. 72-6, art. II (1993).] Similarly, Ordinance A-45-93 amended Chapter 73-3(g) of the Code of the City of Rahway to read: G) No application shall be approved if the property where the proposed activity is for the purposes of an Adult Amusement Center, games or devices and is located within 1000 feet of any other such Adult Entertainment or Amusement Center or within 1000 feet of any residential zone, church, designated public park, playground and/or recreation facility, public institution or other public place and/or public school, and/or school bus stop. Such activity shall only be permitted in the I-1 Industrial Zone. [Rahway, N.J., Code ch. 73-3 (1993).] Do-Wop's applications for renewal of its licenses for the years 1994 and 1995 were approved based on the two-year amortization provision contained in Ordinance A-44-93. By early 1994, two bills were introduced in the State Legislature that addressed many of the same concerns that had been addressed in Rahway's ordinances, including the need to reduce the number of sexually-oriented businesses. G.A. 252, 206th Leg., 2d Sess. (1995); G.A. 842, 206th Leg., 2d Sess. (1995). Both bills were enacted into law and became effective on September 15, 1995. L. 1995, c. 230, 3 (codified at N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 and amending N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2). In language similar to the pertinent language in the Rahway Code, N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 provides in pertinent part: Except as provided in a municipal zoning ordinance adopted pursuant to [N.J.S.A.] 2C:34-2, no person shall operate a sexually oriented business within 1,000 feet of any existing sexually oriented business, or any church, synagogue, temple or other place of public worship, or any elementary or secondary school or any school bus stop, or any municipal or county playground or place of public resort and recreation, or any hospital or any child care center, or within 1,000 feet of any area zoned for residential use. [N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7a.] The same legislation also amended N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2 to make clear that the enactment of N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 did not change the existing obscenity law codified at N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2. L. 1995, c. 230, 1. The significance of N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 is that it makes unlawful the operation of sexually-oriented businesses within the 1,000 foot buffer zones unless the municipality in which such a business is located has, through a zoning ordinance, permitted that operation within one or more of the buffer zones. Here, it is undisputed that Do-Wop's facility is located within one of the buffer zones__within 1,000 feet of a residential zone. It is also undisputed that Rahway has not enacted a zoning ordinance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2b and N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7a legalizing sexually-oriented businesses within the buffer zones. Do-Wop hand-delivered a timely application to Rahway on December 27, 1995 for renewal of its licenses for theaters, indoor performances, and amusements for 1996. On the same day, Rahway advised Do-Wop's attorney that the renewal application had been rejected based on Chapter 72-6 of the Rahway Code because the two-year amortization period for non-compliant uses had expired. The letter further stated that continued operation would be in violation of the Code. In response to that letter, Do-Wop instituted the present litigation on January 17, 1996 seeking, among other things, a declaratory judgment that the 1993 ordinances violated the MLUL, and an order compelling Rahway to process its license-renewal application. Rahway filed a counterclaim, seeking to enforce the 1993 amendments to its Code and N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7a. The trial court conducted a summary proceeding on January 28, 1998 and concluded that the applicable provisions of the Rahway Code were invalid because they constituted an improper exercise of zoning power that did not adhere to the requirements of the MLUL. The trial court directed Do-Wop to file its applications for renewal of its licenses for 1996, 1997, and 1998 within ten days. The court's decision was memorialized by an order dated June 23, 1998. After proper renewal applications were not filed by Do-Wop within a year of the January 1998 proceeding, the June 1998 order was effectively amended by an order dated March 26, 1999, which required Do-Wop to file properly executed applications in the form supplied by the Rahway City clerk. That order also required each stockholder to be fully identified and fingerprinted. Again, Do-Wop was given ten days to file proper renewal applications. When Do-Wop failed to comply, the trial court issued an order on April 16, 1999 compelling Do-Wop to cease operating its business. Rahway appealed the June 23, 1998 order and Do-Wop appealed the April 16, 1999 order. Both appeals were consolidated for disposition. The thrust of Do-Wop's appeal was a challenge to the validity of the fingerprinting and disclosure requirements of the renewal applications. In an unpublished opinion, the Appellate Division affirmed the June 23, 1998 order substantially for the reasons expressed by the trial court. The Appellate Division reversed the April 16, 1999 order that enjoined Do-Wop from operating its business because the trial court had not addressed the constitutional challenge to the fingerprinting and disclosure requirements. Those issues were remanded to the Law Division to be litigated. We granted Rahway's petition for certification, 165 N.J. 604 (2000), and now reverse. See also Mt. Bethel Humus Co. v. New Jersey Dep't of Envtl. Protection, 273 N.J. Super. 421, 427-28 (App. Div. 1994) (holding that preexisting nonconforming use must conform with requirements of subsequently-enacted Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act); Uncle v. New Jersey Pinelands Comm'n, 275 N.J. Super. 82, 90 (App. Div. 1994) (holding that Pinelands Commission regulation adopted pursuant to Pinelands Protection Act (Act) trumped MLUL's preexisting nonconforming use protection, because Act expressly provided that its implementing regulations superseded MLUL when there was a conflict). As we observed two years ago, N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 is not a statewide zoning regulation for sexually oriented businesses, [but] it does constitute a statewide restriction on their location. Township of Saddle Brook v. A.B. Family Ctr., Inc., 156 N.J. 587, 596 (1999). That is so because N.J.S.A. 2C:34-2 expressly authorizes municipalities, at their option, to override the statutory limitation by [enacting] a local zoning ordinance more permissive than the state statute. Absent such an election by affected municipalities the statutory limitations will govern. Ibid. Because the preexisting use provision protects nonconforming uses only from subsequent municipal zoning ordinances, and not subsequent statutory changes, the prohibition in N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 applies to Do-Wop's facility. We recognize that Rahway's written rejection of Do-Wop's license-renewal application did not refer to N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 as a basis for its rejection. But it is well-settled that appeals are taken from orders and judgments and not from opinions, oral decisions, informal written decisions, or reasons given for the ultimate conclusion. Heffner v. Jacobson, 100 N.J. 550, 553 (1985); Isko v. Planning Bd., 51 N.J. 162, 175 (1968), abrogated on other grounds, Commercial Realty &amp; Resources Corp. v. First Atl. Properties Co., 122 N.J. 546 (1991); Ellison v. Evergreen Cemetery, 266 N.J. Super. 74, 78 (App. Div. 1993). It is clear from the record that Rahway has relied on N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 in both of the courts below. Generally, a municipal corporation may not license acts that are prohibited by the penal laws of the state. 9 Beth A. Buday &amp; Julie Rozwadowski, The Law of Municipal Corporations 26.23.20 (Eugene McQuillin ed., 3d ed. 1995). At least one reported New Jersey decision has followed that general rule. In State v. Betti, 21 N.J. Misc. 345 (Cty. Dist. Ct. 1943), rev'd on other grounds, 23 N.J. Misc. 169 (Quarter Sessions 1945), the court concluded that [t]he licensing of [a] pin ball machine under the provisions of [a town] ordinance . . . does not legalize its possession, which was criminal under a then- existing penal statute. Betti, supra, 21 N.J. Misc. at 351. This Court, by implication, adopted that general rule when it declared that local government may not act contrary to State law. Summer v. Township of Teaneck, 53 N.J. 548, 554 (1969); see also Auto-Rite Supply Co. v. Mayor &amp; Township Committeemen of Woodbridge, 25 N.J. 188, 194 (1957) (stating that municipal government may not authorize activity, such as selling certain merchandise on Sunday, that transgresses State law). Here, the Legislature has declared that operating a sexually-oriented business within the 1,000 foot buffer zones is violative of this State's public policy and has made it a fourth-degree crime unless authorized by a municipal zoning ordinance. N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7a and -7d. Rahway has not enacted such an ordinance. Do- Wop offers no reason to deviate from the general rule. To do so would subvert the intent undergirding N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7, which is to curtail the number of sexually-oriented businesses. We conclude that N.J.S.A. 2C:34-7 gave Rahway the authority to deny Do-Wop's license-renewal application. NO. A-25 DO-WOP CORP., t/a RAZZLE DAZZLE FANTASY RUNWAY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. CITY OF RAHWAY, Defendant-Appellant. DECIDED June 29, 2001 Chief Justice Poritz