CASE STUDY: Today is the Day

[seed]

Thanks everyone for any input I have recived on our journey to open a night club! Today we are having our first public hearing in front of the city council. I have a couple more city councilors stopping by the house before the meeting. A meet and greet if you will. We have at least two votes and support from the Captian of the police department. One councilor who is voting for us will not be there tonight. She has made a request for the item to be tabled until next week. I expect to have discussions with members of the public. It has been interesting so far. I will keep you posted.

Question: Does any one burn incents in their club?

Thanks,

Seed

[HollywoodNights]

Good luck with the meeting, keep us posted on the results. We use to burn incense at our place.

[seed]

We had our meeting last night. They voted three for and three against. We did not get our application for liquor licence (shot down in flames). After that they continued to vote on our food licence, Amusement, pool and pinball, which we got. Then the city attorney explained to us our options. Convince a councilor that voted against to bring it up at the Sept 8 meeting or appeal to the state. We are going to go to the state. I need a a copy of the unsigned app, and a reason of denial. Then file an appeal. I have fifteen days from yesterdays meeting. The clerk will have the paperwork for me tommoro.

[Rivalrys]

Why did the 3 vote against you?

[seed]

The wording in the denial pretty much translates into. The council can not issue a approval application for a liquor licence do to the fact they beleave there are a bunch of losers in the neighborhood?


Call me crazy but I find it hard to beleave the state will deni us a licence because of people in the neighborhood. The council likes us. They say our integrity and priorities for this proposal are all in check. We have the support from the police department. The Mayor voted for us. We will see!

[Crazy Mike]

Can you open as a private club?

[BARTENDER 54]

Seed,
Don't they normally have like 4,6 or 8 council members and when you have a tie in the vote the Mayor is there basically (and that's their only job) to break the tie. I ????

So ya had 3 to 3 the Mayor voted for you... YOU WON

Here, when you appeal to the state there's like a 90% chance that they over ride the city, so don't give up, your close way too close to quit.

Oh, and I wouldn't say that a 3-3 vote was being shot down in flames, I think they just winged ya.

Good luck,
Rick

[seed]

Well, tommoro we will go in front of the state! We have a pretty good case! I hope it works out.

[Daryl]

Seed,

Early on in your post you mentioned something about council members stopping by to see you. If I understood you correctly, this is not permitted here in Florida.

If you file a petition , conversations about the petition are not permitted outside the hearing. (exparte' communication) Here it is called the sunshine law I think.

Hope it goes your way.

[clubwhiz.com]

what state are you in?

this happens in ny all the time...

[seed]

I am located in Maine. WOW the hearing was from 10 am until 2 pm. Our attorney represented us well. We believed the state would make a decision today, They did not. The meeting was recorded and evidence submitted. They will get the tape transcribed and go over the case and notify us by mail. It could go either way. I will keep you posted

[Daryl]

"Ex parte" is a Latin phrase meaning "on one side only; by or for one party." An ex parte communication occurs when a party to a case, or someone involved with a party, talks or writes to or otherwise communicates directly with the judge (in this case City Council)about the issues in the case without the other parties' knowledge.

I have this very situation now, as we have a petetion filed with our City Council

[seed]

Wow, It was a month Sept 20. I guess the state is in no hurry? I hope they are not spending 40 hours a week on making a decision! LOL.

[seed]

Almost there! We got our certified letter notice in the mail box yesterday. It was supposed to be at the post office today but we had snow last night and the post office did not do their job today. I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MONDAY! Unbelievable, This is killing me. REALLY! I spoke to the liquor inspector over the phone on Monday. He told me we would hear this week. He knew they were working on the case. I asked him what took so long. He said when attorneys get involved (He said don't read too much into this) The state likes to have all their stuff right! Then he said if their going to put the screws to you they want to make sure they did it right! So I don't know. I do know this. I think the city was wrong in their decision to torpedo this establishment and I feel they were wrong to deny us an opportunity to re open the place back up. So if we get a NO from the state it will be off to district court! I hope not! We only have a grand in this venture so far so what the hell. I have learned this though. If you really want anything in life you have to fight for it. No one is going to give you anything and if they have the chance to shove you in the dirt and walk over you. They probably will!

[seed]

We got our certified letter today.

It stated: The decision to deny Skybox Bar & Grill a Class A Lounge liquor license is without justifiable cause.

Unfortunately. They did not issue a licence at this time due to the fact the landlord runs a catering business out of the same building. The floor plan she has on file includes our space. Our floor plan does not include her space. The letter states The Good Chef catering service has to submit an amended floor plan that does not conflict with the new applicant. This would be us. The Good Chef is going to drop it off tomorrow! I feel I have been at this a while and I am not evan at the beginning yet?

[BostonDave]

Sounds like you should be all set - congratulations! Let us know if you run into any other roadblocks

[Havensloft]

Yes, it sounds like you are on the road finally. congrats.

[seed]

Question: What is the best way to serve Draft with out a walk in? How many taps can you operate without a walk in cooler?

Thanks

[seed]

We said to hell with it and are going to buy a walk in from the " The king " , www.walkincool.com. We are going into the place Monday to come up with a game plan. We are looking at about 10 grand for: A 6 x 8 walk in cooler, 7 nice pub tables / 28 chairs, 28 bar stools, two leather sofas, 1 - 4 ' round card table / low chairs and a 42 " flat screen TV. I spoke with a vender about a touch tunes and a couple mega touch games. We are going to meet next week. We have signed up for a two day class with bar tending school of America for Jan 9. We will be tips certified when complete. There is not a whole bunch of work to do in the place. Clean, repair some floor tiles, put the sign back up and paint the bathrooms. It already has two 8' pool tables and 9 TVs.
I can't wait! I will say how ever I hope this is not one of those be careful what you wish for deals! I only have one pic that I took last may when we were in. I hope the link works.

Seed


http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...ugust08003.jpg

[Havensloft]

Seed, does your place have a bar in it? I don't see one in the pic. That is great that you are getting a walk in cooler. How many kegs can it hold? It sounds like you have plenty of room. Good luck.

[seed]

I have some old pics from a gig we had their at one time. It is pretty big. I think code is 109 people. The bar itself has about 20 stools with 9 taps. We are going to put the walk in in the basement directly under the taps. They did a real nice job with the renovations! The room way out back in the first pic is where the pool tables go. One table has to be moved when a band comes in. Unfortunately, We do not have the permit for live bands yet. I am going to do what ever I have to to get one from the city. I can live with only acoustic acts but it is nice to bring in the bands three times a year for revenue.



http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...ugust08003.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Seed/bar1.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Seed/bar2.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Seed/bar3.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Seed/bar4.jpg

[Havensloft]

Nice pics Seed

[seed]

I went down last week and got some more pics. We are going to meet with owner Sunday to go work out a Leese.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Skybox001.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Skybox020.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Skybox007.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Skybox025.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Skybox014.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Skybox015.jpg

[Havensloft]

Good luck witht the lease, Seed. Looks like the place has a lot of potential. It is twice the size of my place. Excited?

[seed]

Looking for a good product to remove boot " scuff marks " off of the wood along the bar?

Thanks!