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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-02-25 (Special) Meeting MinutesSPECIAL MEETING: COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO February 25, 1980 The City Council of the City of Englewood, Arapahoe County, Colorado, met in special session on February 25, 1980, at 7 :35 p.m. Mayor Otis, presiding, called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Mayor Otis. The pledge of allegiance was led by Mayor Otis. Mayor Otis asked for roll call. Upon a call of the roll, the following were present: Council Members Higday, Neal, Keena, Bradshaw, Otis. Absent: Council Members Fitzpatrick, Bilo. The Mayor declared a quorum present. * * * * * * Also present were: City Manager Mccown Assistant City Manager Curnes Assistant City Attorney DeWitt Director of Finance/ex officio City Clerk-Treasurer Higbee Deputy City Clerk Johannisson Deputy City Clerk Watkins * * * * * * Mayor Otis stated the purpose of the meeting was to hold a public hearing for the consideration of a beer and wine license for Franz Hummel's Delicatessen, Cinderella City. * * * * * * COUNCIL MEMBER NEAL ~VED TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE APPLICATION FOR A LIQUOR LICENSE. Council Member Bradshaw seconded the motion. Upon a call of the roll, the vote resulted as follows: Ayes: Nays: Council Members Higday, Neal, Keena, Bradshaw, Otis. None. February 25 , 1980 Page 2 Absent: Council Members Fitzpatrick, Bilo. The Mayor declared the motion carried. Council Members Fitzpatrick and Bilo entered the meet- ing at 7:40 p.m. Deputy City Clerk Johannisson presented testimony re- garding the application for Franz Hummel's Delicatessen, Inc., 701 West Hampden Avenue, Cinderella City. Mr. Johannisson sub- mitted the following as City Exhibit 1: 1. Application State of Colorado Form DLR404 2. Notice of public hearing 3. Letter dated February 15, 1980 to the appli- cant 4. Personal History of applicant including the police investigation report 5. Letters of reference for the officers of the corporation 6. Corporate documents -Certificate of Incorporation -Articles of Incorporation -Minutes of the corporate meeting electing the corporate officers -Sample stock certificate 7. Documents relating to the corporation's right to the property -lease from Cinderella City 8. Building layout plan 9. 10. Letter from the Community Development Department indicating that the use for which the applicant's wants is permitted by zoning codes Map indicating the two mile radius which was de- signated by Council as the petitioning neighbor- hood; the location of Mr. Hunnnel's Deli and other locations that have beer and wine licenses. Mr. Johannisson noted there was one other license in the neighborhood -the Englewood Golf Course. February 25, 1980 Page 3 Mr. Johannisson stated the City employed Oedipus, Inc. to petition the neighborhood. He submitted the petitions cir- culated by Oedipus as City Exhibit 2a -2 f; and the tabulated report as City Exhibit J. Mr. Max Scott, Oedipus, Inc. 1200 Pearl, Boulder, appeared before Council and offered testimony regarding his report and petitioning procedures. Mr. Scott stated 879 con- tacts were made from which 401 qualified to participate in the survey. Of the qualified contacts, 169 signed in favor and 93 signed against. The percentage in the final analysis resulted in 641o indicating that needs and desires were not being met and 361o indicating that needs and desires were being met. Mr. Scott was cross examined by Mr. John Criswell, attorney for Mr. Hummel. In response to Mr. Criswell's ques- tions, Mr. Scott stated the survey results were a good represen- tative sampling and regardless whether the contacts were more the percentage results would probably be the same. There were no further questions to ask of Mr. Scott. Mayor Otis asked for the applicant's presentation. Mr. John Criswell, 3780 South Broadway, appeared be- fore Council on behalf of Mr. Hummel. Mr. Criswell called his first witness, Mr. James Artzberger. James Artzberger, 6552 South Vance, unincorporated Jefferson County, general manager of Cinderella City, appeared before Council. Under direct questioning from Mr. Criswell, Mr. Artzberger gave testimony in regard to his business back- ground and experience, and the general activity of Cinderella City as a retail facility. Mr. Artzberger stated one restaurant at the center currently had a liquor license -Field, Inc. Mr. Artzberger stated the management considered Mr. Hummel's restaurant to be a prime outlet where beer and wine would be appropriate alcoholic beverages to sell. Council Member Keena noted the lease agreement between Capital Alliance Company and Mr. Hummel contained a clause where- in the leasee would agree not to oppose the granting to any other tenant of the shopping center the right to sell beer, wine or liq- uor in the premises to be occupied by such other tenant. Ms. Keena asked Mr. Artzberger if such clause was normal in other national shopping centers. February 25, 1980 Page 4 Mr. Artzberger stated it was a normal agreement of shofping centers to have certain restrictions. It was the cen- ter s position during the recent past to discuss with prospec- tive tenants any restrictions the center may have in connection with other leases that may be outstanding. Council Member Keena asked if the same clause was in other existing leases. Mr. Artzberger stated he was not certain; however, some leases had restrictions in them of one kind or another. Council Member Keena stated she was concerned about a person's right to come to Council and testify against a liquor license; and if there were restrictions in other leases that would prevent any other tenants from coming before Council and testifying. Mr. Artzberger stated he was not aware of any such restrictions. Council Member Keena asked whether or not such situa- tion would pose legal problems. Assistant City Attorney DeWitt stated such a problem would not be binding upon the City. He was uncertain as to the effect on Mr. Hummel because the reasonable requirements of neighborhood and desires of the inhabitants was the goal and should Mr. Hummel have relevant information he would be press- ed between the contract and his right to come forward and speak to Council. Therefore, it would be more of a burden on him that apparently he was chosen to waive, as well as any other tenant who has signed a similar contract. Mayor Otis asked if there were any questions to ask of Mr. Artzberger. David Long, 3150 South Fox, appeared before Council. Mr. Long asked how many other stores or businesses in Cinderella City could possibly come up later and ask for a liquor license. Mr. Criswell stated the answer would be speculative because anyone can apply for a liquor license. Council Member Neal asked Mr. Artzberger what was the basic philosophy of Kravco as the managing agent for the center in regard to lifting liquor prohibition. February 25, 1980 Page 5 Mr. Artzberger stated in any type of business the center would be operating there was a point of no return in opening any kind of business. The management would not be opposed to enter- taining a restaurant requesting to sell liquor. There were some restaurants that would not be appropriate for the sell of liquor because their shape, size and type of food sold. There could not be very many more requests based on the present set up. No other restaurant has approached the management on this subject to date. In response to Mr. Long's question, Mr. Criswell stated the alcoholic beverages to be sold were wine and 6% beer. There were no further questions to ask of Mr. Artzberger. Mr. Criswell called Mr. Franz Hummel to testify. Franz Hummel, applicant, 3070 South Vine Street, Den- ver, appeared before Council and gave testimony regarding his business background. He stated there was a need to serve beer and wine in his restaurant to complement the food he served. The majority of his business was restaurant; however, he offered a delicatessen service for take-out food. He was the presi- dent and sole stockholder of the corporation. The restaurant was family-owned and operated. Mr. Criswell submitted Applicant's Exhibit Q -a map of the premises. Mr. Criswell invited Mr. Long to come forward for the purpose of viewing the map and how Mr. Hummel proposed to control the customer traffic. Mr. Hummel stated neither consumption nor carry-out of alcoholic beverages would be allowed on the outside, side- walk tables. The alcoholic beverages would only be allowed inside the restaurant in a roped off section which would still be separate from the other inside tables extending into the mall. Mr. Criswell acknowledged the state liquor code as allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages in an area that was roped off with clearly designated entrances and exits. Mr. Hummel stated the restaurant hours would remain to be 9:00 a.m. -9:00 p.m. The liquor would be sold "in-line" at the beverage section. The customer would have to pay the cashier who would be over 21 years old. The cashier would also check identifications of customers if there was any doubt of legal age. February 25, 1980 Page 6 Mr. Criswell submitted Applicant's Exhibits A -K, petitions signed by Mr. Hummel's customers. The petitions were signed at the restaurant as patrons came through the service line. Mr. Criswell noted some of the patrons were also resi- dents ,of Englewood. In response to Council Member Fitzpatrick's question, Mr. Hummel stated he would personally supervise the premises for control. Mr. Hummel stated he would do whatever was neces- sary and appropriate to maintain good operating order for his business. In response to Council Member Bilo's question, Mr. Criswell stated Applicant's Exhibit A -K contained 461 signa- tures approximately. There were no further questions to ask of Mr. Hummel. Mr. Long reiterated his concerns regarding whether or not the center or Council had any plans to limit the number of liquor outlets. Mayor Otis stated the matter would have to be addressed at a later time. Mr. Criswell called Ms. Dee Richardson to testify. Dee Richardson, 3335 South Monaco, Denver, appeared before Council, and gave testimony under the direct question- ing of Mr. Criswell. Ms. Richardson stated she worked as a part time petition circulator in addition to a full time job which she held with Standard Register Company. She had been engaged to circulate petitions for both liquor license appli- cants and for people who opposed applications. She was paid on an hourly-wage basis rather than on the number of signa- tures collected. Ms. Richardson stated in the application of Mr. Hummel, she supervised circulators who contacted busi- ness owners and managers in the City of Englewood and at Cin- derella City. Mr. Criswell submitted Applicant's Exhibit L -0, the petitions circulated under Ms. Richardson's supervision. Mr. Criswell submitted Applicant's Exhibit P, the summary of petitions taken at Mr. Hummel's restaurant and those from Ms. Richardson. February 25, 1980 Page 7 Assistant City Attorney DeWitt asked Mr. Criswell how many signatures were in favor of the application and how many were against. Mr. Criswell stated the summary indicated all the signatures were in favor; and that Mr. Hummel would have to guess the number of people who refused to sign the petitions. Mayor Otis asked if there was anyone present who wish- ed to speak in opposition to the application. No one responded. Mayor Otis asked if there was anyone present who wish- ed to speak in favor of the application. Victor Gustafson, 6375 South Race Court, Littleton, ap- peared before Council. Mr. Gustafson stated he was the owner of Tobaccoland in Cinderella City. He stated he was in favor of the application. cil. City. John Yost, 11647 E. Wesley, Denver, appeared before Coun- Mr. Yost stated he was the owner of Ivan's Tonsorium in Cinderella He stated he was in favor of the application. Frank DeSciose, 1504 South Kipling Court, Denver, appear- ed before Council. Mr. DeSciose stated he was general manager for Mr. Hummel. He stated he had worked for the Hummel family many years and was looking forward to continuing the relationship. There were no further appearances on behalf of the appli- cant. Council Member Higday requested that Council expedite their decision on the application and that the resolution be on the next regular Council meeting agenda. COUNCIL MEMBER FITZPATRICK MOVED TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING. Council Member Bilo seconded the motion. Upon a call of the roll, the vote resulted as follows: 8:35 p.m. Ayes: Nays: Council Members Higday, Neal, Fitzpatrick, Keena, Bilo, Bradshaw, Otis. None. The Mayor declared the motion carried. COUNCIL MEMBER HIGDAY MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Mayor Otis adjourned the meeting without a vote at