Opinion ID: 1268047
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: amortization provision

Text: Centaur challenges the Ordinance's two-year amortization provision as an unconstitutional taking of its property. In Collins v. City of Spartanburg , 281 S.C. 212, 314 S.E. (2d) 332 (1984), we held that an amortization provision is valid if reasonable. Reasonableness is determined by [b]alancing the public gain against the private loss.... Id. at 214-15, 314 S.E. (2d) at 333. A number of other courts have upheld adult-use amortization periods of varying lengths. SDJ, Inc. v. City of Houston , 636 F. Supp. 1359 (S.D. Tex. 1986), aff'd , 837 F. (2d) 1268 (5th Cir.1988) (6 months); Castner v. City of Oakland , 129 Cal. App. (3d) 94, 180 Cal. Rptr. 682 (1982) (1 year); Cook County v. Renaissance Arcade & Bookstore , 122 Ill. (2d) 123, 118 Ill. Dec. 618, 522 N.E. (2d) 73 (1988) (6 months, with nondiscretionary 6-month extension if requested); Town of Islip v. Caviglia , 73 N.Y. (2d) 544, 542 N.Y.S. (2d) 139, 540 N.E. (2d) 215 (1989) (1 1/4 to 5 1/4 years); P A Northwestern Distributors, Inc. v. Zoning Hearing Bd. , 124 Pa. Commw. 228, 555 A. (2d) 1368 (1989) (90 days); Northend Cinema, Inc. v. City of Seattle , 90 Wash. (2d) 709, 585 P. (2d) 1153 (1978) (90 days). These decisions all applied the reasonableness test followed by this Court in Collins. The burden is upon Centaur to prove the unreasonableness of the amortization period. Castner, supra . The period is presumed to be valid unless Centaur demonstrates that its loss outweighs the public gain. Caviglia, supra ; Renaissance Arcade, supra . Centaur patently failed to meet its burden. Although it presented some evidence of improvements to buildings from which the bookstores are operated, Centaur offered no evidence of economic loss to its businesses as, for example, cost of relocation. On the other hand, the record contains numerous studies detailing the deleterious effects that adult businesses have upon the surrounding community. On the record before us, the two-year amortization period is reasonable as applied to Centaur.