The evidence introduced at trial established that the City of Houston, before
adopting Ordinance 97-75, reasonably believed that there were an adequate number
of available alternative sites for SOBs. The City's belief in this regard is
supported by a preponderance of the evidence. The City engaged in an adequate
analysis to determine whether [*64] a sufficient number of available alternative
sites existed in Houston to accommodate SOBs that would be displaced by the
enforcement of Ordinance 97-75. The Planning Department used computer programs
and property data that were the best available at the time and, significantly,
that the City relied on for other, unrelated municipal business. Chow, through
his analysis, identified 7,597 available alternative sites. There were 126
licensed SOBs in January 1997, including
the 25 SOBs which were protected by an
injunction in a different case. The City was aware that 95 of these businesses
would
be required to relocate after Ordinance 97-75 was adopted. It was clearly
reasonable for City Council to believe there were
at least an adequate number of
sites among the 7,597 on Chow's list to provide alternative avenue for
communication
for significantly more than the number of existing licensed SOBs.
Additionally, the evidence at trial verified the
City's belief that, at the time
Ordinance 97-75 was enacted in January 1997, there in fact were reasonable
alternative locations for SOBs in an adequate number to accommodate businesses
displaced or otherwise affected
by Ordinance 97-75. 30 Of [*65] the more than
7,500 parcels identified by Chow, Vice Division officers
looked at approximately
1,500 properties. Read More