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Home My WebLink About10/14/2004MINUTES FOR LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY MEETING CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO 7500 West 29th Avenue, Municipal Building October 14, 2004 Chairman Miks called the Liquor Licensing Authority Meeting of October 14, 2004 to order at 9 00 a m Liquor Authority Members present: Robert Alldredge, Frank Sanzalone, John Miks, Anthony Davia, Judith DiCroce, Lloyd Donnelly and Brenda Locricchio Kent Davis was absent. Also present: Deputy City Clerk, Christa Jones, Attorney for the Liquor Authority, Carmen Beery; Sgt. Paula Balafas, and Detective Tom Cunningham, Wheat Ridge Police Department; staff; and interested citizens APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF August 26, 2004 Motion by Mr Alldredge for the approval of the Minutes of August 26, 2004, seconded by Mr Sanzalone, carried 7-0 PUBLIC COMMENT Edgar A. Gregory l/l, 6710 West 47th Avenue, submitted a letter to the Liquor Authority, in which he described an assault complaint against Tom Little, owner of Vern's Restaurant & Lounge Mr Gregory also submitted a letter from the Office of the District Attorney, which states that Mr Little was sentenced to six years probation, serve 18 months in the County Jail as a condition of probation, Court will authorize work release He wants to object to Mr Little ever getting a license in this town again He has two metal disks in his neck from this incident and went through a lot of pain and problems and he wants the Authority to be aware of this He wants to be notified when Mr Little's license comes up for renewal Motion by Mr Alldredge to formally enter this letter into the record and be attached to Mr Little's file, seconded by Mrs DiCroce, carried 7-0 Mr Miks changed the order of the Agenda to hear Items 2 and 3 before Item 1 There were no objections LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY MINUTES: October 14, 2004 Page -2- Item 2. Order Survey and set Public Hearing date for Vincenza's Italian Bakery, 8000 West 44th Avenue, Wheat Ridge Deputy City Clerk, Christa Jones, stated that the City Clerk's Office had received an application for a new Beer and Wine license from Vincenza's Italian Bakery Motion by Mrs Locricchio to set a 1-mile radius and order a survey to establish the needs and desires of the neighborhood within the City of Wheat Ridge She further moved to set a public hearing date for October 28, 2004 at 9 00 a m and ordered the property posted and the public hearing published in the Wheat Ridge Transcript; seconded by Mr Sanzalone, carried 7-0 Item 3. Order Survey and set Public Hearing date for Denver West Travel Center, 12151 West 44th Avenue, Wheat Ridge Deputy Jones reported that the City Clerk's Office had received an application for a new Retail 3 2% Beer Off Premises License from TA Operating Corporation, d b a "Denver West Travel Center", 12151 West 44th Avenue, Wheat Ridge Motion by Mrs DiCroce to set a 1-mile radius and order a survey to establish the needs and desires of the neighborhood within the City of Wheat Ridge She further moved to set a public hearing date for December 9, 2004 at 9 00 a m and ordered the property posted and the public hearing published in the Wheat Ridge Transcript; seconded by Mr Alldredge, carried 7-0 Item 1. Show Cause Hearing for Rumours, 6920 West 38th Avenue, Wheat Ridge Deputy Jones reported that the Police Department had informed the Clerk's Office of alleged liquor violations at Rumours The Clerk's Office submitted the information to the Liquor Licensing Authority for their decision on whether or not to hold a show cause hearing The Liquor Authority found at their meeting of August 26, 2004 that there was probable cause to believe that the licensee violated various sections of Colorado Revised Statutes as well as Section 11- 54(b) of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws Rumours was notified by mail and served in person on September 17, 2004 that there would be a show cause hearing on October 14, 2004 LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY MINUTES: October 14, 2004 Page -3- Rumours has been under the present ownership since March 13, 2003 and there have been no previous violations It was pointed out by the Chair that although the license had been issued, the Club did not open for at least six months after issuance of the license Steve Ashburn (50% owner of Rumours) was sworn in by the Chair He stated that he had left the Club at 9.00 p m on the evening in question and was not present when all the violations occurred The D J mentioned in the Police Report was an employee of Rumours at the time, but is no longer employed there He was shocked and upset when he became aware of what had happened during the "Wet T-Shirt Contest" He always tells his employees not to over serve and to call the Police for any kind of disturbance Mr Ashburn stated that his co-owner had been present that evening and he was disappointed that she was not here this morning to answer the Authority's questions He will try and have Rumours to be more like a Supper Club and cater to an older crowd City Attorney, Carmen Beery, stated that the licensee stipulated to all the violations Motion by Mr Alldredge that the Authority finds that violations of C R.S Sections 12-47-900 B 3 , C 1 a , C 1 b , 901 (1)(a) and Section 11-54(b) of the Wheat Ridge Code of Laws occurred, seconded by Mr Sanzalone, carried 7-0 Carmen Beery stated that she was informed by Sgt. Balafas that 10 Officers responded to the Hot Body Contest. Sgt. Balafas confirmed that there were multiple fights that night and 1 person sustained serious bodily injury after being punched by an intoxicated patron Carmen Beery continued to say that the violations were very serious She asked that a severe penalty be given to the licensee Motion by Mr Alldredge to direct the City Attorney to prepare findings for this meeting and further moved to suspend the license for Rumours for a period of 12 days He further moved to hold 6 of those days in abeyance for 6 months from today's date and if any other violations occur, these additional 6 days shall be imposed The initial 6 days start on November 7 through 12, 2004, seconded by Mr Donnelly LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY MINUTES: October 14, 2004 Page -4- Discussion followed Carmen Beery and Sgt. Balafas suggested that some of the days should be served on a weekend, since those are the biggest revenue nights Mrs DiCroce feels it should be a stronger message because of the seriousness of the violations Mrs Locricchio would like to see 14 days that cover 2 weekends and no abeyance Deputy Jones pointed out that the Restaurant does not have to close, they only have to remove the alcohol and cannot sell it. Mr Sanzalone suggested having the closing from one weekend through the next. Motion to amend Mr Alldredge's motion by Mr Miks to suspend the license for a period of 10 days from November 5 through the 14th and hold an additional 10 days in abeyance for a period of 6 months, seconded by Mrs DiCroce and Mr Davia, carried 7-0 Original Motion as amended carried 7-0 INFORMATION ONLY Letter from Chief of Police to Longshots Bar Mr Miks is concerned that we have yet another letter regarding Longshots Bar and wants to address that sometime in the future Sgt. Balafas stated that another letter would be forthcoming because there had been an incident this weekend that involved an assault with either a baseball bat or a metal pipe according to witnesses Motion by Mr Donnelly that the future renewal for Longshots Bar will be heard before the Authority and not taken care of administratively; seconded by Mr Alldredge, carried 7-0 Meeting adjourned at 9 50 a m Christa Jones, Deputy City Clerk APPROVED BY THE LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY ON OCTOBER 28, 2004 BY A VOTE OF ,j TO C` John Myks, Liquor Authority Chair