Napa Valley Publishing Co. v. City of Calistoga

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART NAPA VALLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY’S MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION (No. 11)

Napa Valley Publishing Company (hereinafter “NVP”), a corporation of the state of Washington, publishes and distributes newspapers and periodicals in Napa County, California. More specifically, NVP publishes and distributes, inter alia, The Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper sold to local citizens for its news coverage, Inside Napa Valley, a free publication distributed primarily to visitors for its map and coverage of local businesses and events, and Distinctive Properties, a free guide featuring real property for sale in the area. NVP has distributed these publications in newsracks along the public walkways of the City of Calistoga for a number of years. In 2000, NVP distributed its publications in twenty-two separate newsracks.

The City of Calistoga (hereinafter the “City”) is a historic town in the Napa Valley known for its tourism. The City is home to a number of day spas, visitor accommodations, restaurants and retail shops, etc. On February 6, 2001, the City, due in part to the growing sentiment of the City’s merchants and citizens who felt that…