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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-06-09 (Special) Meeting Minutes [2]COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO June 9, 1980 SPECIAL MEETING: The City Council of the City of Englewood, Arapahoe County, Colorado, met in special session at 7:50 p.m. on June 9, 1980. Mayor Otis presided at the meeting. The invocation and pledge of allegiance were given at the preceding meeting. The following Council Members were present. Council Members Higday, Neal, Fitzpatrick, Keena, Bilo, Bradshaw, Otis. Absent: None. There was a quorum. * * * * * * Also present were: City Manager Mccown Assistant City Manager Wanush City Attorney Berardini Deputy City Clerk Johannisson Deputy City Clerk Watkins * * * * * * COUNCIL MEMBER HIGDAY MOVED TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR A REQUEST FOR A HOTEL/RESTAURANT LICENSE APPLICATION FOR ROUND THE CORNER RESTAURANT, 701 WEST HAMPDEN AVENUE, CINDERELLA CITY. Council Member Fitzpatrick seconded the motion. Upon a call of the roll, the vote resulted as follows: Ayes: Council Members Higday, Neal, Fitzpatrick, Keena, Bilo, Bradshaw, Otis. Nays: None. Deputy City Clerk Johannisson presented the applicant's file for the City. Mr. Johannisson submitted the following items as exhibits: 1. City Exhibit A -Applicant's file. 2. City Exhibit B -Map of designated neighborhood. I June 9, 1980 Page 2 3. City Exhibit C -Petition Sumnary Report from Oedipus, Inc. 4. City Exhibit D (1) -(6) -Petitions Council Member Keena asked Mr. Johannisson why the appli- cation was also for an extended-hour-special license. Mr. Johannisson stated that type of license would per- mit the restaurant to stay open until 12:00 a.m. on Sunday. There were no further questions of Mr. Johannisson. Max Scott, 2902 -5th, Boulder, appeared before Council. Mr. Scott stated he was owner and operator of Oedipus, Inc. the firm that conducted the survey of the neighborhood. Mr. Scott discussed the report and its summary. Mr. Scott stated of the people contacted and qualified to participate in the survey, 72.931 indicated the needs and desires were not being met and 27.07t indicated the needs and desires were being met. There were no questions for Mr. Scott. Mayor Otis asked for the applicant's presentation. Kim Petersen, attorney for the law firm Holm & Dill, appeared before Council on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Petersen called his first witness. B. Edwin Massey, 4749 Olde Poat Court, Boulder, appeared before Council. Mr. Massey stated he was president of Round The Corner Restaurants and gave further testimony regarding his busi- ness and personal background. Mr. Massey provided information con- cerning his impressions of the neighborhood and the reason for locating his restaurant at Cinderella City. Mr. Petersen presented Applicant's Exhibit A which was a list of the outlets in City with special denotations beside those outlets located in the designated neighborhood having hotel/restau- rant liquor licenses. Mr. Massey identified the exhibit and stat- ed he had some trouble getting served alcoholic beverages in some of these outlets. Mr. Massey stated it was his opinion the area needed an additional hotel/restaurant license which wouild be Round The Corner Restaurant. Mr. Petersen presented photographs of the interior of the restaurant's prototype building. Mr. Massey identified the photographs and stated they reflecte~ how the restaurant at Cin- derella City would be remodeled. June 9, 1980 Page 3 Mr. Petersen stated he wanted the photographs returned because they were expensive to produce. He just wanted to submit them so that Council could get some idea as to how the restaurant would be remodeled. City Attorney Berardini advised Mr. Petersen and the applicant that if they wanted the photographs to be submitted as evidence they would have to be marked as exhibits and made part of the record. Mr. Berardini stated the photographs should be left until Council had made their decision and the statutory period under Rule 106 had expired. The photographs were marked Applicant's Exhibit 0 (1) - (7) and submitted to Council. Mr. Petersen submitted Applicant's Exhibit B (1) and (2) and asked Mr. Massey to identify them. Mr. Massey stated the exhibits were the menus which showed the food and beverages served from an exisiting outlet with a liquor license and the food and beverages from an exist- ing outlet without a liquor license. Under direct questioning from Mr. Petersen, Mr. Massey testified if the license was granted, the restaurant would only serve beer and wine as do the other chains in Colorado. Mr. Massey also testified that the restaurant had never received a citation or complaint while the chain had been in busi- ness. Council Member Keena asked for an explanation as to why Mr. Massey was applying for a hotel/restaurant license instead of a beer and wine license and why the extended hours. Mr. Massey answered the purpose of obtaining a hotel/ restaurant license was because of the State's multiple licens- ing requirements. Mr. Massey stated according to the State Statutes, an applicant can only hold one beer and wine license but as many hotel/restaurant licenses for which the applicant can qualify. Since there were several restaurants in the state, he had to apply for a hotel/restaurant license even though beer and wine would be the only beverages sold. Mr. Massey stated the extended hour request was probably an oversight because he did not intend for the restaurant to be open any longer than what the center was open on Sunday which was 5:00 p.m. Council Member Neal asked if Mr. Massey had conducted market studies on the restaurant and center. June 9, 1980 Page 4 Mr. Maaaey answered he had and described the clientele who were attracted to the restaurant. Council Member Neal asked Mr. Massey if he checked on the restaurant very frequently. Mr. Maaaey stated he checked on the restaurant two times a month. Mr. Maaaey stated he had many qualified people at each reataurant to make the operation ran smoothly. In reaponae to City Attorney's questions, Mr. Massey stated he had several requests from customers to sell beer and wine and felt the employees could handle the dispensing of al- coholic beverages properly. There were no further questions for or testimony from Mr. Maaaey. Mr. Petersen called his next witness. Greg Hawkins, 4448 Green Briar, Boulder, appeared be- fore Council. Mr. Hawkins testified that he was vice president of operations and director of personnel for the restaurant chain. Mr. Hawkins gave further testimony concerning his business and personal background and discussed the operation of the restaurant. Mr. Petersen submitted Applicant's Exhibit E (1) -(5) which were letters from people supporting the liquor license but unable to appear at the hearing. Mr. Hawkins identified the let- ters and stated they were from owners and managers of businesses at Cinderella City. Mr. Hawkins identified Applicant's Exhibit A. Mr. Hawkins stated he had had trouble obtaining liquor in some of the outlets. Mr. Hawkins stated he desired that the license be granted to Round The Corner. There were no further questions for or testimony from Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Petersen called hia next witnesses. Dan Wilzod, 6165 East Iliff 1209, Denver; Mark Hunter, 1161 South Yosemite Way, Denver; Brian Burke, 1401 East Girard, appeared before Council. The witnesses were employees of the restaurant. Mr. Petersen submitted Applicant's Exhibit C (1) -(9) and each witness identified the set of petitions each one had June 9, 1980 Page 5 circulated in the restaurant. Each witness discussed the method used to petition the patrons of the restaurant and the results of the petitioning. Mr. Hunter stated his petitions indicated 120 signatures in support out of 135 contacts. Mr. Burke stated his petitions indicated 46 signatures in support out of 50 con- tacts. Mr. Wilzod stated his petitions indicated 120 signatures in favor out of 137 contacts. There were no further questions for or testimony from the three witnesses. Mr. Petersen called his next witness. John Ray, R. R. 2, Sedalia, appeared before Council. Mr. Ray stated he was a owner/manager of an Englewood business. Mr. Ray identified Applicant's Exhibit A. Mr. Ray stated he bad bad problems obtaining alcoholic beverages at some of these outlets. Mr. Ray spoke in favor of granting the license to the applicant and stated that he desired it to be granted. There were no further questions for or testimony from Mr. Ray. Mr. Petersen called his next witness. Barbara Aton, 4811 South Kalamath, appeared before Coun- cil. Ms. Aton stated she was a owner/manager of an Englewood busi- ness. Mr. Aton offered testimony in support of the issuance of the liquor application. There were no further questions for or testimony from Ms. Aton. Mr. Petersen called Max Scott to appear. Mr. Petersen asked Mr. Scott to explain the relevance of a traffic count and population tracts to the application. Mr. Scott stated his employees extrapolated informa- tion from various population tracts in the designated neighbor- hood as well as the traffic counts for the purpose of research- ing the area prior to conducting the survey. Mr. Petersen asked Mr. Scott if the 721 figure which waa in favor of the license was a good indicator of the needs and desires of the neighborhood. Mr. Scott answered affirmatively. June 9, 1980 Page 6 There were no further questions of Mr. Scott at this time. Mr. Petersen asked that all the applicant's exhibits be taken into evidence by Council. City Attorney Berardini reminded Mr. Petersen of case law which held that petitions circulated within a business and signed by patrons were not to be received by the licensing au- thority if the patrons were not residents of the area. However, Mr. Berardini advised Council to receive the petitions but that the signatures of patrons residing outside the designated neigh- borhood be striken. Mr. Petersen objected to Mr. Berardini's comments and cited case law supporting the proposition of who had the ability to sign petitions and the line of authority which indicated traf- fic count. Also, regional centers were of an unique nature and attracted people from within and without the neighborhood. Mr. Petersen stated Cinderella City attracted people way beyond the one mile radius; and therefore, the petitions merely indicated that fact. City Attorney Berardini still recomnended striking the name of patrons outside the designated neighborhood. Mr. Petersen had no further comnents at this time. Mayor Otis asked if there was anyone else wishing to speak in support of the license. No one responded. Mayor Otis asked if there was anyone wishing to speak in opposition of the license. Isabelle Knight, 3021 South Lincoln, appeared before Council. Mrs. Knight testified that she did not consume alco- holic beverages. Mrs. Knifht stated there were too many li- quor outlets in the area a ready and did not desire that this license be issued. Mr. Petersen objected to Mrs. Knight's testimony on the grounds that Mrs. Knight did not consume alcoholic beverages and; therefore, her testimony was irrelevant. Council Members Fitzpatrick and Keena advised Council to accept Mrs. Knight's testimony since Council had accepted the petitions signed by patrons of the restaurant and to give appropriate consideration to both pieces of evidence. June 9, 1980 Page 7 Council Member Bilo asked that Mr. Hawkins appear again for questioning. Mr. Bilo asked Mr. Hawkins to elaborate on the type of training that was given for those employees who would serve beer and wine and also be checking I.D.'s. Mr. Hawkins provided information concerning the pro- gram. Mayor Otis asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak in opposition. Don Mowery, 3001 South Pearl, appeared before Council. Mr. Mowery stated he did not consume alcoholic beverages. Mr. Mowery stated he felt there were · enough liquor outlets in the City at the present time. Mr. Petersen objected to Mr. Mowery'a testimony on the basis that Mr. Mowery did not consume alcoholic beverages; and therefore, the testimony was irrelevant. made. '11lere was no further testimony or closing comnents 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: Ayes: Rays: Council Members Higday, Neal, Fitzpatrick, Keena, Bilo, Bradshaw, Otis. None. '11le Mayor declared the motion carried and adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. ~)U~L ~l£)~ puty City erk