Family Video officials plan to fight charges brought by the city of Auburn that their company is violating city code by renting adult videos to its customers.

The case brought by the city against the recently opened business at 48 Genesee St. was adjourned Friday in Auburn City Court until April 11 by Judge Michael F. McKeon. The judge then recused himself from the case because he actually wrote the ordinance in question while serving as city attorney in 1998, and because his court attorney served on the city planning board when Family Video was applying to open its store. He said it may take some time to find a judge who can oversee the matter.

Following the court appearance, Douglas Klang, Family Video's director of real estate, said the company does not believe its store fits the definition of “sexually oriented businesses” outlined in the city code.

He said the store has a separate, age-restricted area for adult videos, but that adult videos make up 7.5 percent of inventory, 1 percent of sales and 4.5 percent of floor space.

The city states the business is in violation of a municipal code that restricts sexually-oriented business to locations at least 500 feet from any residential dwelling.

Sexually-oriented businesses include adult bookstores, theaters, motels, cabarets and massage establishments, according to article 305-72 of Auburn's municipal code. To be defined as an adult bookstore, a “substantial or significant portion” of the establishment's stock has to be books, magazines, films, videotapes that it excludes minors from buying by reason of age.

“We do not feel that this ordinance applies to us,” Klang said.

City Manager Mark Palesh, though, said Thursday that by offering adult materials, Family Video falls under that definition. Palesh also said the company's name is misleading.

“It seems like a trap to bring families in and then expose them to the worst of society,” Palesh said Thursday. “I, for one, will never expose my family to that store again. Other people will have to make that decision on their own.”

Palesh said that if the judge decides the video store is violating city code, the city will issue a notice calling for the business to cease and desist renting the material. If the judge rules in favor of the business, the city could re-examine the code and make it more specific, Palesh said.

Family Video will not make any changes to its store pending the resolution of the case, Klang said.

“We feel that there's a silent majority out there that this is not an issue for,” he said.

Family Video Movie Club is the third-largest chain of video stores in the country. The Glenview, Ill.-based company opened its Auburn store in October 2007.

Klang said the chain has encountered this issue a few times in other communities, but has never been found to fit under the definition of an adult business.