The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en Volume 13, Number 30
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Thursday, July 23, 2009
VIP wins injunction, will open on ’Pike By Olivia L. Lawrence Associate Editor A judge has ruled that VIP of Berlin LLC can be permitted, at least for now, to open with 12 percent or less of its inventory in sexually-oriented material. While town officials say they must comply, they also plan to re-strategize in the wake of this recent decision. Judge Stefan R. Underhill, of the U.S. District Court, made the ruling to allow the business to open at 717 Berlin Turnpike, the site of a former furniture store. Basically, the ruling said that Berlin’s sexually-oriented business ordinance is too vague in its language about what constitutes “substantial or significant stock.”
Therefore, the SOB forces an applicant into a trial-and-error approach as to whether or not its business is subject to the ordinance “I conclude that…VIP will suffer irreparable harm and has demonstrated a clear likelihood of success on the merits of its as-applied vagueness challenge,” Underhill wrote in his ruling. “I’m extremely disappointed with the judge’s decision,” said Mayor Adam Salina. The mayor said whether the town agrees or not, it must comply or else be held in contempt. Attorney Daniel Silver who represents VIP said “It was a long time coming, but from the beginning we had a strong position. The town was
Referendum cost town more than $4K By Olivia L. Lawrence Associate Editor The June 24 referendum to decide on the automated versus manual trash question cost approximately $4,300 to stage. Registrars Elizabeth Tedeschi and Charles Warner recently discussed their perspectives on what it takes to run a voting operation. “You have to pay what you have to pay — this is the price of democracy,” Warner said. Tedeschi said overall “Berlin hasn’t had very many referendums.” For many years, the town only held the budget referendum. However, since the charter changed there have been more as people can bring certain items forward through a petition. Tedeschi said using just one location, as was done for the last referendum where
voters went to the American Legion to cast their ballots, is much less expensive than opening the five polls. The budget the registrars use of five locations is $7,700. During regular elections the town opens all five, during some referendums, if approved by the Town Council, only one poll is used. The American Legion charges rent but the other polls are in town buildings and do not require a fee. “That’s over $3,000 in savings when we use one location,” Tedeschi said. Each poll must be equipped with a telephone and staffed. Ballots aren’t cheap, either. These cost between 25 cents and 65 cents each, depending on the complexity. The cost of ballots for the last referendum was $1,325. For the presidential election the cost was over See Cost, page 4
totally unreasonable. I think my client has been vindicated.” Silver said the town’s zoning officer has issued a certificate of zoning. While he couldn’t provide a specific timeline as to when the doors would open, he said “My client is ready to open and is moving in that direction.” The judge’s decision came out of a June 23 hearing at which VIP presented a motion for a preliminary injunction. The judge’s decision was ordered July 2. Silver said a motion filed by the town to stay the injunction was rejected. The town’s corporation counsel did not return a phone call seeking comment. Neighbors from what is known as Webster Heights have fought long
and hard against VIP. Their disappointment in the decision was palpable. “This is truly a sad time for Berlin. This affects the whole town,” one of the Webster Heights residents said. “I cannot express how saddened I am that this somehow slipped by us and we were not there to defend ourselves. I need to know more of how this happened. Do we all have ourselves to blame for becoming complacent? Now, we look like fools to have fought the hard fight and had this slip right by us? “There are more questions than answers right now and I think we all should be thinking of what we want
See VIP, page 6
The end of the line
Citizen photo by Robert Mayer
Berlin Little League All-Star softball coach Scott Calderone talks to his infielders during the first inning of their 7-1 loss to Milford Monday night in Wallingford. With the loss, the all-stars were eliminated from the sectional state tournament. For story, additional photos, see pages 21 and 22.