ROBINSON, PA — Vanessa Fuchs was more than willing to provide services to her client base during last year’s holiday season — but the township of Robinson went out of its way to make sure that wasn’t possible. Now, victorious after a court battle intended to run her out of business, she’s demanding that the city give her a piece of the profit rich pie that it kept her from enjoying.Fuchs owns Sassy Sensations, a West Way Shoppes boutique in Robinson that sells women’s lingerie and sexy toys. Because the city kept her in court for nine months, she was unable to open her doors and, instead, found herself stuck with legal costs and an inactive store. Because she doesn’t think that was fair, she’s filed suit to get some of her money back.
“I missed Christmas, New year’s, and Valentine’s Day, my biggest single sales period,” she explained to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I have a business that was shut down for nine months. I couldn’t even sell a stick of gum.”
Fuchs, who has a second shop in Castle Shannon, informed the court that her goods were no racier than those found at Spencer’s Gifts or Victoria’s Secret, yet the township’s officials had insisted that she be considered a peer with adult book stores and strip clubs. Her boutique had been closed by officials only eight days after it had opened, claiming that she did not have a required occupancy permit — and then claiming that she ran a sexually oriented business, which could not legally be located in a commercial zone.
Once in the Allegheny County Common Pleas court last July, Judge Joseph James sided with Fuchs, ruling that Sassy Sensations was not a sexually oriented business as defined in the township’s zoning ordinance. After the decision, the township’s commissioners dropped all legal action and Fuchs held a September grand opening celebration.
Although the Robinson Commissioners have revised the zoning ordinance that lumped her shop in with more overtly sexually focused businesses, she is demanding more than $25,000 in compensation for her troubles.
