Lawsuit between Hustler Hollywood and City of Fresno settled

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Right off Highway 41 in northeast Fresno, drivers will soon have a new business to pass by. Fences surrounding the Old Silver Dollar Hofbrau building are coming down making room for Hustler Hollywood.

For more than a year the adult-themed store connected to Hustler Magazine has been fighting to operate along Shaw and Fresno Street. Because after the company was approved to open shop, the city changed its code stating an adult-oriented store could operate if 25-percent of the store or less contained sexually explicit material-- to "any merchandise."

Hustler Hollywood sued the city for that change and on April 6th the case was settled in closed session in the U.S. District Court.

Katrice Jackson, a mom of two, has no problem with the store being here. She said it is in a place where there are a lot of adults who can create additional tax revenue for the city.

"Any income that we can get to go to other projects and go to the community is a good thing," said Jackson.

But Councilmember Dr. Garry Bredefeld said the high traffic area was the concern. Nonetheless, he notes now that the legal battle is over, there is nothing the city can do about it.

"They have their legal rights to do that and the City of Fresno wisely realized that and so rather than spending lots of money with lawyers we just did what was prudent for the City of Fresno."

When construction does starts back up for the new business, Hustler Hollywood will have to make sure that inside a wall is built to separate the adult material from the rest of the store.

We reached out to Hustler Hollywood for comment but have not heard back from them. As for the legal fees the City of Fresno will have to pay the company $15,000.