Posted on 06/17/2008 6:53:47 PM PDT by Son House
ROCHESTER, MN (KTTC-TV) -- A local business that is clashing with Police could lead to a liquor license lost.
They have a long list of police calls and a self-admitted problem with gang violence. Now, the future of Westfire Grille, is very close to burning out.
For the second time in the last month the Rochester City Council is finding the future of a bar in their hands, but this time around it's not about neighbors. The problem is with the police.
Rochester Police Lt. Dan Pulford says, "1 o'clock in the morning, 2 o'clock in the morning, I will have two units sitting at that establishment, tell me another business in this town that has two officers that have to sit down there for an hour."
From underage drinking, to disorderly conduct and a history of fights, the police calls are adding up for Westfire Grille.
Westfire manager David Sylwester says, "There's often times that I'm caught unaware. If business comes in it comes in, I have a payroll to meet too so."
After hearing about about repeated calls for Police, City Council members scheduled a public hearing, with the option of taking away the bar's liquor license. Just days after scheduling that public hearing and after police advised against it, the bar held held a show that quickly spun out of control on Friday night.
Sylwester says, "We carefully screened all of our performers but sadly to note one of those performers had some gang ties and decided that they were going to break up the show."
Lt. Pulford says, "I will tell you the most recent incident Friday night, every north unit car I had was at that establishment which means we had no north unit cars patrolling the city of Rochester."
After looking at the list of 90 police calls to this bar in the last year, one council member said in his opinion 63 of them were significant. Easily enough, he said, to be worried about what the future might bring.
City Council members have ordered the bar manager to meet with police and come up with a plan of action in the next two weeks while putting the bar on probation for 3 months.
If the council chooses, they can revoke the liquor license at any time during that probation.
The council will be dealing with more bar issues at its next meeting.
After hearing complaints from neighbors last night they have scheduled a public hearing to deal with noise issues at Whiskey Bones Roadhouse.
Heard it was a good place to eat, just don’t stay late. Thought I would invite you in on this one to extend the invitation to the ping list.
Public nuisance laws are for this very reason. There was a place similar to this bar town nearby to me. Took a cop getting shot and killed in their parking lot before the city council finally shut it down.
Good point, sad to hear you had to lose an officer.
Problems solved.
Oh wait ... Alcohol sales and consumption ... never mind
They could change it into a hookah bar.
They were trying to be an upscale dinning place at first, with just a small dance floor, then they started to have outdoor concert stuff that was so loud it could be heard across a highway, that’s where the noise complaints came from. Collection plate was stationary, unlike the million man march, where they passed the collection plate for money from the poorest folks around.
The owner could hire off-duty cops as security. Stagger the hours the cops show up for work to keep the cost down and keep the creeps guessing when Johnny-Law is working.
The burden to prevent a nuisance here should not fall completely on the business owner.
The owner has some reponsibility to be certain his establishment doesn’t become a nuisance, but on the other hand the cops are duty-bound to prevent a nuisance from developing.
Certainly an interesting case should it go to court.
Put country or classical music over the sound system. Problem solved.
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