An adult bookstore facing an uncertain legal future in Sandy Springs may get the boot from redevelopment regardless of whether it wins a lawsuit against the city.
Inserection, located at 7855 Roswell Road across the street from City Hall, is one of three businesses that recently lost a federal court appeal of their lawsuit claiming the city’s restrictions on sexually oriented businesses are unconstitutional. Unless Inserection appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and wins, it could be forced to move or shut down.
But the bookstore’s days may be numbered anyway. The family that owns Inserection’s building has it on the market, and its local broker believes redevelopment will happen soon. That redevelopment will not include Inserection after its lease expires, he says.
“We would like to get rid of them, and we think we can do that fairly soon,” said Larry Brown, the broker for the family whose members live in California and Iran. “I foresee that being something different in the next 12 months.”
Brown noted that the city’s new zoning code allows for automotive uses on the property — which is next door to a luxury sports car dealership — and other commercial uses. He said the property nearly had a buyer earlier this year.
Inserection is within a small shopping center that is largely vacant. Brown said the center’s representatives have trouble finding tenants willing to be the bookstore’s neighborhood, and he noted that a spa in the center closed down after a police raid last year. “We’re trying to clean up the eyesore,” he said.
Cary Wiggins, an attorney representing Inserection, said the bookstore has no plans to move.
“Inserection is unaware of a pending or imminent sale of the building,” Wiggins said. “It plans to stay where it is.”