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r � -2- decision although Mr. Berg had explained he had told the store owner his presence- was .not necessary until a conditional use permit request is made. . He -also reported that the Administrative Assistant had cautioned the Commission that, in the opinion of the City Attorney, the City might face the expensive proposition of having to .go all the way to the Supreme Court .to defend ,a decision -.of-denial-because of .p:ornography. Joseph Dudley, Jr. ,. 1250 West' First.Natibna-I Bank Building; St. Paul, counsel for Worth Ochs , owner of the Video .Movie Center in the Apache Plaza shopping center, said his client- "had not been invited to the Planning Commissions hearing in November to answer questions about the store; was not selling pornographic movies; doesn' t own any other stores of the same type as the one in Apache , and. .has a 'family oriented' operation" . He said Mr. Ochs does demonstrate on a video replayer, which can be purchased through the store, cassettes from the general film field which are sold in the store but the store is neither a "pornographic movie house;' .nor- an "adult bookstore"' with no comparison to be drawn with the type of operations found on Hennepin Avenue and .St. Paul'. He. said Mr. Ochs is interested only in dispensing "high class" materialswhere costs are such "they will be affordable only to the middle class family" . The attorney said videotapes and cassettes are the "hottest items on the market today" and. Mr. Ochs anticipates he .will do well at the Apache location.- He urged the Council to include this type of _sales in its permitted uses and not to- table the request, as recommended by the Planning Commission, which he believes the City Attorney would agree would be "prior restraint .on Mr. Ochs and a limitation of his rights as well as possible harm to his reputation" . Elie J. Dubay, 3012 - 32nd Avenue .N.E.., was upset because he had not known a lawyer would be representing Mr. Ochs at this meeting, commenting he didn' t believe "residents should have to retain a lawyer to appear before the Council" . He drew a comparison with the store and the Fun Center in the St. Anthony Shopping Center which he said he had opposed. He didn' t think the policy of "always having the best in St. Anthony" would be continued with this store and thanked the Planning Commission for listening to the opposition to the store and recommended no action to the change in the ordinance which will permit the operation. Mayor Haik then addressed those present by telling them she believed the controversy had arisen when .a connection had mistakenly been made between Mr. Och' s store in Apache and the request for a video store in St. Anthony Shopping Center whose owners had indicated to City staff they intended to sell "x-rated materials under the counter" for which no follow-.up has been made. ' "This misunderstanding going abroad had persisted in spite of the fact that, . to the Council ' s knowledge, no pornographic materials are being sold in the video center in Apache and we will be certain none is sold. there in. the future. " She replied to Mr. Dubay' s concern that., since Minneapolis is so close, some of the types of operations permitted there might be relocated in St. Anthony, by saying the Councl .will make certain "no such materials are made available in St. Anthony" . Mr. Dubay blamed the "recent increase in crime in St.. Anthony on the operation of the Fun Center, which brought in people walking our streets we didn' t have years ago" . He believed physical harm to persons resulted from that rise in crime. The Mayor told him when the first concerns regarding the operation of the Fun Center were voiced to her -personally, the Police Department had been instructed to watch the center carefully