Permit process enters final stage
By DAVID M GRIMES (dgrimes@reviewonline.com)CALCUTTA - Three Calcutta businesses are one step closer in selling alcohol as the St. Clair Township Trustees unanimously gave its stamp of approval for the liquor permits.
At the township meeting Tuesday evening, Robert M. Swickard and James N. Hall both agreed to approve the requests for liquor permits to the 170 Drive Thru, Turkana Golf and Giant Eagle. James Sabatini was absent from the meeting due to illness.
"In the last election, the people voted in the democratic process ... with that, since they have not even opened [the alcohol sales] or anything has changed it's hard to have an objection to something the people passed," Swickard said.
Recently, the Sunday sale of beer for Giant Eagle was recounted, but the passage -by just one vote -stood to give a blanket approval for all the liquor options on the November ballot.
Last year during the general election, the two liquor options in the Calcutta Precinct were voted down and in the 2005 primary election, Turkana Golf was voted down for both weekday and Sunday sales.
But just like the majority of voters, the trustees had no problems with allowing the businesses to obtain their permits.
"I do not have any objections," Swickard said, with an agreement from Hall.
The approval without objections by the trustees moves the alcohol permit process in the final stage.
According to Fiscal Officer Deborah Dawson, the final stage involves the Division of Liquor Control sending an investigator out to the premise to ensure the business meets all the qualifications like possessing a vendor's license and ensuring coolers meet specifications.
After a business is approved and passes the inspection, it can begin selling alcohol.
The entire process is estimated to take about 12 weeks from the time the Columbiana County Board of Elections sends certification to the Division of Liquor Control.
From the election date, that time period projects the three entities could begin selling alcohol sometime by late January or in February.
The liquor licenses will be site specific, which means the license is tied to that owner and address only.
The trustees and Police Chief Donald Hyatt had previously said this is a safeguard for the township by disallowing an owner from passing it to another owner or business even if the new person opens a business at the same location of the permit.
Another safeguard lies with the trustees and police department.
According to Swickard, the trustees are able to vote on the yearly renewal of the permits. If a property is deemed a possible nuisance, the three trustees have the option to object to the renewal. An appeals process is then started to investigate the matters before the permit is granted or denied.
"We do have the option to deny," Hall said. "If they became a nuisance site, in regards to problem areas with the police department, we do have that option to deny this application for renewal."
Giant Eagle, in the Calcutta Precinct, was approved for weekday beer, wine and mixed beverage carry-out sales along with the Sunday sale of beer.
The 170 Drive Thru in the South Precinct was given the nod for the sale of carry-out beer, wine and mixed beverages.
Turkana Golf in the East Precinct had the D-1 and D-2 license options approved. The two licenses allow the business to sell beer, wine and certain prepackaged drinks to be consumed on the golf course and allows sealed containers to be sold for carry-out. The Sunday on-site consumption and carry-out option for beer was also approved.
