A Cobb Superior Court judge has issued an order enjoining the Tokyo Valentino adult retail store in East Cobb from doing business after ruling it was operating without proper licenses.
In an order issued late Friday, Judge LaTain Kell ordered Tokyo Valentino closed after determining that the store, located at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, did not have a business license for 2021, nor did it have a special license required for sexually oriented businesses.
(You can read the full ruling by clicking here.)
The ruling also declared that Tokyo Valentino was improperly operating within 750 feet of a residential area and within 1,500 feet of a medical facility as well as operating in a zoning category not allowed for an adult business.
The ruling also said that Tokyo Valentino was staying open past its closing time of midnight. Sexually oriented businesses in Cobb must be closed between midnight and 6 a.m.
Kell’s ruling took effect at 11:59 p.m. Friday, and Tokyo Valentino was ordered to address all of those issues before the store would be allowed to reopen.
The ruling, which came after a hearing in Kell’s chambers last Tuesday, does not permanently close the store.
The county’s efforts to formally revoke its business license remains pending in Cobb Superior Court.
When we went by the store around 2 p.m. Monday, the doors were locked. An Amazon Prime truck was attempting to make a delivery and eventually drove away.
Signs located on the doors said the closure was “temporary” and referred customers to nearby Tokyo Valentino locations in Marietta and Sandy Springs.
“The Cobb County Superior Court heard evidence and argument on the County’s request for an order prohibiting Tokyo Valentino from operating without a County business license, and from violating the County’s sexually oriented business licensing and location rules, while the County’s case against the business proceeds,” Cobb County Attorney William Rowling said in a statement Monday afternoon.
“The County will continue to defend and enforce its ordinances enacted for the health, safety, and welfare of Cobb County residents.”
East Cobb News has left a message with Cary Wiggins, an attorney for Tokyo Valentino, seeking comment.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted last fall to revoke the store’s business license, saying it misrepresented what kind of business would be going there when it received a business license in March 2020.
The county charged that Tokyo Valentino falsely applied for a clothing store, then featured an inventory mostly of sex toys after opening in June.
After the store opened, Cobb commissioners overhauled the county code governing adult businesses.
Those provisions include some of the violations cited by the county in its motion for an injunction, including the distance and zoning requirements.
Tokyo Valentino owner Michael Morrison, who has been in lengthy litigation over his adult businesses with several other metro Atlanta jurisdictions, also filed a federal lawsuit against Cobb earlier this year, but that was dismissed in May.
Related stories
- Cobb seeks injunction against Tokyo Valentino during litigation
- East Cobb Tokyo Valentino store business license revoked
- Cobb commissioners overhaul sexually oriented businesses code
- Proposed Cobb code changes target sexually oriented businesses
- Editor’s Note: Is East Cobb really so uptight about a sex shop?
- East Cobb citizens speak out against new Johnson Ferry Road store
- Empty East Cobb retail building subject of sex shop concerns
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
This is great to hear -we as East Cobb residence do not need a sex shop in our area!!!! So glad it’s closed and should never come back we are good abiding people and don’t need that type of business in an upscale community!!!
Please go there and buy something so you can relax. Sounds like you’re the target demographic for a store of this nature. 😉
Thank you, Judge Kell.
I’m glad that our philosopher kings do such a good job of choosing people can open businesses, where we can shop, what kinds of houses we’re allowed to live in, and where we must send our kids to school. Kim Jong-Un wishes he could be this competent!
NIMBY!
No, seriously, not in my back yard.
Tokyo Valentino mislead the county about this store from day 1. They mis-stated what would be sold, they did not even tell the county the name of the store. They knew if they were truthful about their business, it would not be approved. They did it anyway. I hope this is just the beginning of the end for them.
Running a government on popular opinion is never a good idea – if they approved the business license, then that should be the end of the story. If they didn’t want “that kind” of business there and approved it, anyway, because there was no reason not to, then it’s approved and needs to be honored. Any laws enacted after that shouldn’t apply to any pre-existing license approved.
If they don’t like this kind of business there, then don’t approve the next one. Making it a living hell on this one is wrong. If they’re violating a law or regulation, then fine them just like you would if it was a less controversial business.
Kindergarten playground politics has no place in real politics. We need the teacher to enter the fray and, if s/he doesn’t get it right, then the principal needs to step in. The way it’s being handled right now is juvenile.
Holy crap your education analogy is hilarious because clearly you can’t read. This business has a model of making it a living hell to try to close them. It’s your tax dollars being wasted on frivolous lawsuits that the convict owner states publicly is part of his business model. So not only is the store driving down property value but wasting the dollars you contribute to the government. With your remedial analogy I’d suggest you read this article or any other on the“poor business owner” more thoroughly and then follow your own analogy and see that the business owner misled (aka lying in kindergarten and other primary schools) from the start. Time for time out. And for your comments the only thing worse than a troll is an misinformed one.
Why should the government be wasting taxpayers’ money trying to close businesses like this? If the business makes money and can survive, then there is obviously a community desire for it. If not, it will close on it’s own.
Sounds like the best thing to do is just let them be then. It’s not as if there’s gian phalluses on the front lawn, you don’t have to explain what it is to poor little Timmy. Quit with the pearl clutching.