Opinion ID: 603788
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Renton Test

Text: 13 The test for determining whether the Adult Businesses' First Amendment rights are threatened is whether a local government has effectively den[ied] ... [the Adult Businesses] a reasonable opportunity to open and operate their enterprise within the city in question. City of Renton, et al. v. Playtime Theatres, 475 U.S. 41, 54, 106 S.Ct. 925, 932, 89 L.Ed.2d 29 (1985). Again, the possible economic impact upon a business is not a factor to be considered by the courts when determining whether a city has provided a business with a reasonable alternate location. Adult businesses: 14 must fend for themselves in the real estate market, on an equal footing with other prospective purchasers and lessees.... [A]lthough we have cautioned against the enactment of zoning regulations that have the 'effect of suppressing or greatly restricting access to lawful speech,' ... we have never suggested that the First Amendment compels the Government to ensure that Adult theaters ... will be able to obtain sites at bargain prices.... 15 Id. at 54, 106 S.Ct. at 932 (citations omitted). This prohibition against consideration of economic impact specifically forecloses inquiry into whether a relocation site is commercially viable or only potentially as opposed to actually available. Id. at 53, 106 S.Ct. at 932. 16 The Supreme Court, however, has not stated what sort of factors may be considered when deciding whether the relocation sites provided by a city are reasonable. Some courts have attempted to draw a distinction between economically unsuitable land and physically or practically unsuitable land. See Woodall v. City of El Paso, 959 F.2d 1305, 1306 (5th Cir.) (per curiam) modifying 950 F.2d 255 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 304, 121 L.Ed.2d 227 (1992); Alexander v. City of Minneapolis, 928 F.2d 278, 283 (8th Cir.1991). In Woodall, the Fifth Circuit held that land with physical characteristics that render it unavailable for any kind of development ... may not be considered available for constitutional purposes under Renton. 959 F.2d at 1306. 17 The problem, however, is that the distinction between economically unsuitable and physically or practically unsuitable land is difficult to maintain. Nearly all forms of physical and legal unsuitability may be couched in terms of economic unsuitability. Conversely, problems of economic suitability may be couched in terms of physical unsuitability. For example, in the instant case, some of the definitionally available land is currently used as runways for the Los Angeles airport. One could argue that this land is physically unsuitable for a business. On the other hand, one could argue that it is merely economically unsuitable, since there is nothing to prevent an adult business from physically relocating to this site; rather it is prevented by a consideration of the cost of tearing down part of an airstrip and then building a storefront. In short, it could be argued that the only impediment is the cost of development. 18 This easily blurred line between economic and physical suitability creates doctrinal problems. If the unsuitability of a relocation site always can be couched in terms of economic suitability, under Renton no relocation site could ever be considered unreasonable. On the other hand, if a court attempts artificially to maintain the line between physical and economic suitability, it may often be led to consider the economic factor sub rosa which is forbidden under Renton. 19