Opinion ID: 3050279
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Text: Renton To satisfy its burden under Renton, the County must propose a sufficient number of potential relocation sites to allow Déjà Vu “a reasonable opportunity” to operate its business. 475 U.S. at 54. For a site to qualify, it “must be considered part of an actual business real estate market for commercial enterprises generally.” Lim v. City of Long Beach, 217 F.3d 1050, 1054 (9th Cir. 2000). If in an industrial or manufacturing zone, the site must be “reasonably accessible to the general public,” “have a proper infra-structure,” and be suitable for “some generic commercial enterprise.” Topanga Press, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 989 F.2d 1524, 1531 (9th Cir. 1993). Finally, the list must account for other relevant zoning restrictions, such as separation requirements, that might affect a site’s availability. Isbell v. City of San Diego, 258 F.3d 1108, 1113 (9th Cir. 2001). If the County’s list is reasonable, the burden shifts to Déjà Vu to demonstrate that the proposed sites are inadequate or unlikely to ever become available. Lim, 217 F.3d at 1055. Once “the relevant market has been properly defined,” the factfinder must determine “whether the market contains a sufficient number of potential relocation sites for [p]laintiffs’ adult businesses.” Id. at 1056.
The County proposed 76 potentially available parcels for Déjà Vu’s relocation. Déjà Vu submitted the declaration of a land use expert contesting the availability and suitability of each site. After an exhaustive survey, the district court excluded eight sites for summary judgment purposes. Fantasyland, 373 F. Supp. 2d at 1132-40. In its briefs and at oral argument, Déjà Vu did not contest any of the district court’s 13710 TOLLIS INC. v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO individual determinations with respect to these remaining 68 parcels.4 [6] Déjà Vu’s argument on appeal draws on the County’s restriction of adult establishments to industrial zoning districts. All adult establishments must relocate to four industrial districts: M50, M52, M54, and M58. Although presumably available for adult establishments, none of these zones allows for general commercial use. “Non-manufacturing uses are restricted to those providing essential support services to manufacturing plants and their personnel.” San Diego County Zoning Ordinance § 2500; see also §§ 2520, 2540, 2580. According to Déjà Vu, this total exclusion from commercial zones suggests that it has not “been afforded a reasonable opportunity to relocate.” See Topanga Press, 989 F.3d at 1521 n.5 (avoiding the question of whether “under Renton, a business has been afforded a reasonable opportunity to relocate if all relocation sites are within an industrial zone and no commercial zones are offered.”). [7] We disagree. Déjà Vu’s position confuses two distinct questions. Whether or not an industrial zone permits generic commercial business within its borders rests on a legislative policy judgment. Asking whether an industrial zone is suitable for generic commercial activity examines the physical characteristics and infrastructure of the land within the zone. The Topanga Press analysis is concerned only with the latter. See 989 F.3d at 1531; see also Diamond v. City of Taft, 215 F.3d 1052, 1056 (9th Cir. 2000). In Topanga Press, we held that manufacturing or industrial zones may comprise part of the relevant market if they “are reasonably accessible to the general public” and “have a proper infra-structure.” 989 F.3d at 1531. We did not hold that industrial sites are potentially available for relocations only so long as they may be used for commercial purposes generally. If an industrial site is reason- 4 We therefore express no opinion on the district court’s mode of analysis, nor on any of its conclusions. TOLLIS INC. v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO 13711 ably accessible and has sufficient infrastructure to be “available” under Topanga, it remains available even if its use for other commercial purposes may be restricted by the zoning law. [8] In any case, the ordinance at issue here requires that adult businesses be located within industrial zones. Any other interpretation of the zoning scheme would zone adult businesses out of the county. As Déjà Vu does not challenge any of the district court’s holdings with respect to the suitability of any one of the 68 parcels for generic commercial use, its argument fails.
The district court determined that the remaining 68 sites, on which eight to 10 adult entertainment businesses could operate simultaneously, were sufficient to allow Déjà Vu — the only affected adult entertainment business in the county — an opportunity to relocate. Fantasyland, 373 F. Supp. 2d at 1140-43. Déjà Vu does not challenge this holding, but argues that the district court should have relied on other secondary measurements to assess sufficiency. [9] We agree that measuring whether the number of proposed sites is sufficient to meet existing demand for sexual or pornographic speech is one of several tools to assess whether a municipality has afforded an adult business a reasonable opportunity to conduct their trade. See Young v. City of Simi Valley, 216 F.3d 807, 822 (9th Cir. 2000). Nevertheless, we cannot identify any error in the district court’s other calculations to justify reversal. Déjà Vu contends that the percentage of available acreage theoretically available to adult businesses in unincorporated San Diego County is drastically less than the amount approved in Renton. See 475 U.S. at 53. Furthermore, it asserts that the ratio of potential adult business sites to popu13712 TOLLIS INC. v. COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO lation in San Diego County is much lower than in Renton and eight Florida municipalities engaged in similar litigation. Yet, Déjà Vu offers no argument or evidence showing that these communities are comparable to unincorporated San Diego County in size, population, or demographics. Absent such a connection, its calculations are meaningless. [10] It also must be borne in mind that the City of San Diego and the other incorporated municipalities in the county are not governed by this ordinance. The unincorporated portions of the county take up the substantial majority of the land area but only a small fraction of the population of the county as a whole. It may fairly be presumed that most of the commercial property in the county, including property suitable for adult businesses, is located within municipal boundaries and thus outside the territory governed by the ordinance in question. At least where we are dealing with “unincorporated” areas, it is appropriate to recognize the likely availability of other locations within the same economic market in neighboring municipalities.