Prince George’s County officials are trying to rid a Beltsville neighborhood of a porn shop as they work to improve the county’s quality of life by moving the adult establishments into industrial areas, but they are expected to face a fierce legal battle. Wholesale Lingerie and Gift Center, on Baltimore Avenue in Beltsville, was ordered to shut down after county property standards inspectors discovered the store has been operating without a proper business permit since 1998.
Zoning officials said they expect the store will appeal in Prince George’s County Circuit Court.
Howard Schulman, an attorney for Premier Realty LLC, the building’s owner, said officials targeted Wholesale Lingerie to enforce a recent law that confines porn shops in Prince George’s County to industrial zones, keeping the stores far away from the strip malls and commercial centers near residential neighborhoods.
But rather than make the case that Wholesale Lingerie is in fact a porn shop, Schulman said the county is hiding behind a technicality with the business permit as it tries to move his client out of Prince George’s County.
“They’re trying to duck the issue,” said Schulman, who called the county’s actions “subterfuge” at a zoning appeals board hearing. “The point of this ordinance is to put them out of business in this county, period.”
Property inspectors investigated Wholesale Lingerie in January under the assumption that the store had a business permit to operate as a clothing store, according to Samuel Wynkoop, director of the Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Regulation.
Inspectors originally determined that the business permit was invalid because the store is actually a porn shop, not a clothing store. Wholesale Lingerie boasts signs for adult novelties and gifts, private viewing booths for adult movies, and an 18-and-older section of the store.
However, inspectors discovered that Premier Realty’s business permit had expired in 1998, when the company purchased the building.
Lacking a proper business permit is fairly common — hundreds of county businesses don’t have the right permits, Wynkoop said — but officials determined the technicality would be an easier way to have the store closed.
Both Premier Realty and the county are awaiting a formal written decision on the case from the county Board of Zoning Appeals.
Until then, the county can’t seek a court order to shut down the store. Likewise, Premier Realty must wait to appeal the board’s decision.
